The lower limbs have six major regions and function to support body weight, allow locomotion, and maintain balance. The lower limb skeleton has two components: the pelvic girdle bones and the bones of the free lower limb. The thigh region lies between the gluteal region above and the knee region below, and contains important muscles like the quadriceps femoris and adductors. The adductor canal is a passageway in the middle third of the thigh that contains the femoral vessels and nerve.

2. Lower Limb
The lower limbs (extremities) are extensions from the trunk.
Function: support body weight
locomotion
maintain balance
The lower limbs have six major regions :

4. • The gluteal region (G. gloutos, buttocks) is the transitional region
between the trunk and free lower limbs.
• The gluteal region is bounded superiorly by the iliac crest, medially by the
intergluteal cleft (natal cleft), and inferiorly by the skin fold (groove)
underlying the buttocks, the gluteal fold .

5. The femoral region (thigh) is the region of the free lower limb that lies
between the gluteal, abdominal, and perineal regions proximally and
the knee region distally.
knee region (L. regio genus)
Leg region (L. regio cruris)
The ankle (L. tarsus) or talocrural region (L. regio talocruralis)
The foot (L. pes) or foot region (L. regio pedis)

6. Bones of Lower Limb
The skeleton of the lower limb (inferior appendicular skeleton)
Two functional components: pelvic girdle bones
bones of the free lower limb.
The pelvic girdle (bony pelvis) is a bony ring composed of the sacrum
and right and left hip bones joined anteriorly at the pubic symphysis.

10. Subdivision of thigh
The fascia lata sends three intermuscular septa – lateral, medial and posterior,
which converge towards the linea aspera of femur and subdivide the thigh
muscle in to three groups.
Extensor group- between lateral and medial septa
Adductor group-between medial and posterior septa
Flexor group- between posterior and lateral septa

16. QuadricepsFemoris
It consist of four individual muscle such as rectus femoris, vastus
medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius .
Rectus femoris:
The word rectus is a latin word meaning straight.
Proximally it is attached to the hip bone and distally attached to the
patella and via the ligamentum patellae, is attached to the tibial
tuberosity.

17. So that it crosses two joints. It is capable of flexing the thigh at the hip
joint and extending the leg at the knee joint. The rectus femoris is the
only part of quadriceps that crosses the hip joint.

21. Flexion of hip joints take place around transverse axis which passes through
the center of femoral head.
Pectineus muscle:
Flat quadriangular muscle located in the anterior part of the superomedial
aspect of the thigh
Proximal attachment: superior ramus of pubis
Distal attachment: lesser trochanter
It is flexor and adductor of hip joint

23. Iliacus:
Triangular muscle
Upper attachment: iliac crest, iliac fossa, ala of the scarum
Distal attachment: lesser trochanter
Acts flexor of hip joints

25. Sartorius:
Derived from a Latin word sartor which means a tailor.
It is known as tailor muscle
Long and ribbon like
Upper attachment: anterior superior iliac spine. It passes lateral to medial
across the supero-anterior part of the thigh.
Distal attachment: upper subcutaneous medial surface of the shaft of the
tibia.

28. Flexion, abduction, lateral rotation of thigh at hip joint.
Also flexes leg at knee joint
The action of both sartorius muscle bring the lower limb into cross-
legged sitting position.

30. • The femoral triangle is bound by the inguinal ligament
superiorly, the adductor longus medially, and the sartorius
laterally.

31. ADDUCTOR CANAL
The adductor canal (subsartorial canal; Hunter canal) is a long
(approximately 15-cm), narrow passageway in the middle third of
the thigh.
It extends from the apex of the femoral triangle, where the
sartorius crosses over the adductor longus, to the adductor
hiatus in the tendon of the adductor magnus

33. The adductor canal provides an intermuscular passage for the
femoral artery and vein, the saphenous nerve, and the slightly
larger nerve to vastus medialis, delivering the femoral vessels
to the popliteal fossa where they become popliteal vessels.
The adductor canal is bounded-----
anteriorly and laterally by the vastus medialis.
posteriorly by the adductors longus and magnus.
medially by the sartorius, which overlies the groove between
the above muscles, forming the roof of the canal.

34. Femoral sheath

36. Femoral triangle