Greater sciatic foramen

The greater sciatic foramen is an opening (foramen) in the posterior human pelvis. It is formed by the sacrotuberous and sacrospinous ligaments. The piriformis muscle passes through the foramen and occupies most of its volume. The greater sciatic foramen is wider in women than in men.

Greater sciatic foramen
The pelvis showing the greater sciatic foramen in red
Details
Identifiers
Latin	foramen ischiadicum majus
TA98	A03.6.03.008
TA2	1316
FMA	17031
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

Structure

It is bounded as follows:

• anterolaterally by the greater sciatic notch of the ilium.^[1]
• posteromedially by the sacrotuberous ligament.^[1]
• inferiorly by the sacrospinous ligament and the ischial spine.^[1]
• superiorly by the anterior sacroiliac ligament.

Function

The piriformis, which exits the pelvis through the foramen, occupies most of its volume.

The following structures also exit the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen:^[2]

Location	Name	Vessels	Nerves
Above the Piriformis	suprapiriform foramen[3]	superior gluteal vessels	superior gluteal nerve
Below the Piriformis	infrapiriform foramen[3]	inferior gluteal vessels internal pudendal vessels	inferior gluteal nerve pudendal nerve sciatic nerve posterior femoral cutaneous nerve Nerve to obturator internus Nerve to quadratus femoris

See also

This article uses anatomical terminology.

• Lesser sciatic foramen