Anatomical and functional study of the psoas major muscle and femoral nerve in correlation with pelvic diameters

Abstract

Background/Aim. The iliopsoas muscle originates from the Greek word ?psoa? meaning ?loin? and represents the only muscle in body that has anatomical preconditions for stability and movement of the trunk, pelvic and legs at the same time. The iliopsoas belongs to the inner thigh muscle group and forms part of the posterior abdominal wall. This muscle is the major flexor of the hip joint, and he is functionally essential for proper posture, walking, running and other physical activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the anatomical parameters of the pelvis and femoral nerve, as well as the relationship of the same pelvic parameters and psoas major muscle. Methods. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Our research was conducted on the cadaveric material on the Institute of Anatomy ?Niko Miljanic?, using 14 cadavers, of which they were 7. cadavers male and 7. cadavers female, aged 67-79 years. The measuring instruments used in this study were a ruler and an electronic digital caliper (measuring range 0-500 mm, 0.01 mm resolution). Statistical data processing was performed in SPSS 11.0 using Mann-Whitney U test. Results. Results of this study indicate that there is a significant statistical difference in pelvic width between male and female cadavers, which is observed in the reduction of the bituberal line in females, while the parameters of the bispinal line does not make significant difference between the two sexes. The decrease of the bituberal line in females was followed by an increase in the width of the proximal origin with a statistically significant decrease in the length of the proximal origin.of the psoas major muscle. Also the vertically distance of femoral nerve from the exit point of the muscle to the bispinal line was significantly reduced in the male group. Conclusion. Based on our results, we can assume that in most cases, due to the smaller bituberal and bispinal line, or narrower pelvis, a shorter proximal attachment of the psoas major muscle will occur with greater width (L2-L5 level) in female than in the male gender, resulting with a longer vertically distance of the femoral nerve. Such results indicate that there is a close correlation between the anatomical parameters of the psoas major muscle, wich may affect the distance of the femoral nerve exit from the muscle.