Hello friends..you can use these notes for your convenience as they are taken from many other standard books.. Thank you.

1. ADDUCTOR REGION
By- Dr. Vibhash Kumar Vaidya
Department of Anatomy

2. Adductor Compartment
• It is well developed
• Its counterpart in the arm has
undergone degeneration during the
course of evolution
• Represented only by a weak
coracobrachialis muscle of the flexor
compartment of the arm

3. Boundaries
• Anteriorly- Medial intermuscular septum which separates it from
the anterior (extensor) compartment of the thigh
• Posteriorly- ill-defined posterior intermuscular septum which
separates it from posterior (flexor) compartment of the thigh
• The posterior intermuscular septum is ill-defined and incomplete
due to the presence of a composite muscle, the adductor magnus,
consisting of two components—adductor and flexor (hamstring)
belonging to adductor and flexor compartments of the thigh,
respectively

4. Contents
• Muscles: Adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus,
gracilis, pectineus, and obturator externus.
• Nerve: Obturator nerve.
• Arteries: Profunda femoris artery and obturator artery.

5. Muscles
• The muscles of the medial compartment of the thigh
are arranged into three layers.
• From superficial to deep these are
1. Anterior (first) layer consists of pectineus,
adductor longus, and gracilis.
2. Middle (second) layer consists of adductor brevis.
3. Posterior (third) layer consists of adductor magnus.

9. Obturator Nerve
• Chief nerve of the adductor
compartment of the thigh
• Arises from the lumbar plexus in the
abdomen
• It is formed by the ventral division of
the anterior primary rami of L2, L3, L4
spinal nerves
• It enters the thigh by passing through the
obturator canal

10. Course and Distribution
• While passing through the obturator canal the obturator nerve divides into anterior
and posterior divisions
Anterior division- passes downwards into the thigh in front of the obturator externus
• Then descends behind the pectineus and the adductor longus, and in front of the
adductor brevis
• The anterior division supplies the following muscles:
(a) Pectineus
(b) Adductor longus
(c) Gracilis
(d) Adductor brevis
• The anterior division also gives an articular twig to the hip joint
• Distal to the adductor longus, it enters the adductor canal where it provides a twig to
the subsartorial plexus of nerves and terminates by supplying the femoral artery in
the adductor canal

11. Posterior division- enters the thigh by piercing the anterior part of the obturator
externus muscle which it supplies
• It then descends behind the adductor brevis and in front of the adductor
magnus
• The posterior division supplies the following muscles:
(a) Obturator externus
(b) Adductor magnus
(c) Adductor brevis
• Its terminal part forms an articular branch called genicular branch
• Which pierces the adductor magnus or passes through hiatus for femoral vessels
to reach the popliteal fossa
• Where it runs along the popliteal vessels and pierces the oblique popliteal
ligament to supply the knee joint
Course and Distribution

12. Clinical Anatomy
• Adductor spasm of the thigh: Spasm of the adductors of the thigh in
spastic paraplegia may be relieved by surgical division of the obturator
nerve.
• Referred pain: In diseases of the knee joint, the pain may be referred
to the hip joint along the obturator nerve (L2, L3, and L4) because it
supplies both these joints.

13. Profunda Femoris Artery
• Largest branch of the femoral artery
• The chief source of blood supply to the muscles of all the three compartments of the thigh
• It arises from the lateral side of the femoral artery in the femoral triangle about 4 cm below the inguinal
ligament
• behind the femoral vessels, giving off medial and lateral circumflex arteries
• It then passes posteriorly between pectineus and adductor longus then descends close to femur successively
between adductor longus and adductor brevis, between adductor longus and adductor magnus
• Here it gives off first three perforating arteries
• Its terminal part pierces the adductor magnus as the fourth perforating artery to reach the back of the leg

14. Branches
1. Muscular branches
2. Medial circumflex femoral
artery
3. Lateral circumflex femoral
artery
4. Four perforating arteries.

15. Obturator Artery
• It arises from the anterior division of internal iliac artery in the pelvis
• It enters the adductor compartment of the thigh through the obturator
canal
• Just outside the obturator canal
• It divides into medial and lateral branches
• The lateral branch gives off an acetabular twig
• Which enters the acetabulum through a gap between acetabular notch
and transverse acetabular ligament
• Where it supplies acetabular fat and gives off a slender artery to the
femoral head along the ligament of the head of femur.