Lumbosacral Plexus

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Nerve	Roots	Motor Innervation	Cutaneous Innervation
Iliohypogastric N.	L1
Ilioinguinal N.	L1
Genitofemoral N.	L1, L2
Lateral Cutaneous Nerve of the Thigh	L2, L3
Obturator N.	L2, L3, L4
Femoral N.	L2, L3, L4
Superior Gluteal N.	L4, L5, S1	Gluteus Medius Gluteus Minimus Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL)	None
Inferior Gluteal N.	L5, S1, S2	Gluteus Maximus
Posterior Cutaneous Nerve of the Thigh
Sciatic N.
Common Fibular N.	L4, L5, S1, S2
Tibial N.	L4, L5, S1, S2, S3
Pudendal N.	S2, S3, S4

The lumbosacral plexus refers to a union formed by the anterior primary divisions of the lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal nerves that provide cutaneous and motor innervation to the pelvis and lower limbs as well as autonomic supply to the pelvic organs¹

The lumbosacral plexus can be divided into 4 parts:

1. Lumbar
2. Sacral
3. Pudendal
4. Coccygeal

Note

It must be remembered that these plexuses overlap and that there is no definite line of demarcation between their origins and distributions¹

The distribution of the nerves in the limbs is not typically segmental and is interrupted by the overlapping of the areas of distribution¹

References

1.

Apaydin N. Lumbosacral Plexus. In: Tubbs RS, Shoja MM, Loukas M, eds. Bergman’s Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation. 1st ed. Wiley; 2016:1113-1129. doi:10.1002/9781118430309.ch92