Nerve · Pelvis

Obturator nerve

Nervus obturatorius

The obturator nerve is the nerve of the inner thigh. It supplies the adductor muscles that pull the legs together, along with gracilis and obturator externus, and carries sensation from a patch of skin on the medial thigh. It is the only branch of the lumbar plexus to leave the pelvis through the obturator canal, a small bony tunnel in the front of the pelvic ring — a tight passage that also makes it the one nerve at risk in that specific place. It also sends a twig to the hip joint, which is part of why hip pathology can be felt as pain referred to the inner thigh and knee.