Anatomy Atlases: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus III: Nervous System: Plexuses: Sacral Plexus

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Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus III: Nervous System: Plexuses

Sacral Plexus

Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed

The origins of nerves of the sacral plexus are variable. The range of these variations, primarily from the work of Eisler, is tabulated below.

Range of Variation of Sacral Plexus (table from Bardeen)

Nerve

High form of plexus

Usual form of plexus

Low form of plexus

Composition

Lumbosacral Trunk	L4	L4	L4
N. to Quad. Femoris	L4, L5	L4, L5, S1	L5, S1
N. to Obturator Internus	L4, L5, S1, S2	L5, S1, S2	S1, S2, S3
Tibial	L3, L4, L5, S1, S2	L4, L5, S1, S2, S3	L5, S1, S2, S3, S4
Superior Gluteal	L4, L5, S1	L4, L5, S1, S2	L5, S1, S2
Inferior Gluteal	L4, L5, S1	L5, S1, S2	L5, S1, S2
N. to Piriformis	L5, S1, S2	S1, S2	S1, S2, S3
Common Peroneal	L3, L4, L5, S1	L4, L5, S1, S2	L5, S1, S2, S3
Posterior Femoral Cutaneous	L5, S1, S2	S1, S2, S3	S2, S3, S4
Pudendal	L5, S1, S2, S3	S1, S2, S3, S4	S1, S2, S3, S4

Extreme Range of Variation

Lumbosacral Trunk	L3 or L3, L4	L4	L4, L5, or L5
Common Peroneal	L3, L4, L5, S1, S2	L4, L5, S1, S2	L4, L5, S1, S2, S3, S4
Tibial	L3, L4, L5, S1, S2	L4, L5, S1, S2, S2	L4, L5, S1, S3, S4
Posterior Femoral Cutaneous	L5, S1, S2, S3	L5, S1, S2, S3, S4	L5, S1, S2, S3, S4

Image 68

References

Bardeen, C.R. (1901-02) A statistical study of the abdominal and border nerves in man. Am. J. Anat. 1:203-228.

Bardeen, C.R. (1906-07) Development and variation of the nerves and musculature of the inferior extremity and of the neighboring regions of the trunk in man. Am. J. Anat. 6:259-390.

Bardeen, C.R. and A.W. Elting. (1901) A statistical study of the variations in the formation and position of the lumbo-sacral plexus in man. Anat. Anz. 19:124-128, 209-232.

Eisler, P. (1892) Der Plexus lumbosacralis des Menschen. Halle.

Paterson, A.M. (1887) Morphology of the sacral plexus in man. J. Anat. Physiol. 21:407-412.

Urbanowicz, Z. (1891) Connections between the lumbar and the sacral plexus in man. Folia Morphol. (Warsaw) 40:271-279.

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