Inferior gluteal artery Inferior gluteal artery The inferior gluteal artery (sciatic artery), the smaller of the two terminal branches of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery, is distributed chiefly to the buttock and back of the thigh. It passes down on the sacral plexus of nerves and the piriformis muscle, behind the internal pudendal artery, to the lower part of the greater sciatic foramen, through which it escapes from the pelvis between the piriformis and coccygeus. It then descends in the interval between the greater trochanter of the femur and tuberosity of the ischium, accompanied by the sciatic and posterior femoral
Sciatic nerve also innervates muscles. In particular: Pain caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve by a problem in the lower back is called sciatica. Common causes of sciatica include the following lower back and hip conditions: spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and piriformis syndrome. Other acute causes of sciatica include coughing, muscular hypertension, and sneezing. Sciatic nerve injury occurs between 0.5% and 2.0% of the time during a hip replacement. Sciatic nerve palsy is a complication of total hip arthroplasty with an incidence of 0.2% to 2.8% of the time, or with an