Iliacus muscle

Last revised by Reabal Najjar ◉ on 10 Dec 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Hacking C, Najjar R, Al Kabbani A, et al. Iliacus muscle. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 02 Oct 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-40259

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-40259

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/40259

rID:

40259

Article created:

15 Oct 2015, Craig Hacking ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Last revised:

10 Dec 2022, Reabal Najjar ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Reabal Najjar had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Reabal Najjar's current disclosures

Revisions:

13 times, by 4 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Anatomy

Synonyms:

iliacus

The iliacus muscle is one of the muscles of the posterior abdominal wall and contributes to the iliopsoas muscle and tendon.

origin: superior 2/3s of the iliac fossa, anterior sacroiliac ligaments and anterior sacral ala
insertion: into the psoas major tendon to form iliopsoas tendon which inserts on the lesser trochanter of the femur
blood supply: iliolumbar artery, branches of femoral, obturator and deep circumflex iliac arteries
innervation: femoral nerve
action: stabilizer and flexor of the hip

Gross anatomy

The iliacus is a large muscle that fans out over the iliac fossa and converges inferiorly to form a tendon which merges with that of the psoas major muscle, forming the iliopsoas muscle. The tendon descends, passing deep to the lateral aspect of the inguinal ligament, to insert on the lesser trochanter of the femur.

Relations

The muscle lies in the concavity of the iliac fossa, lateral to the psoas major muscle. There are several nerves of the lumbar plexus that pass over the anterior surface of the muscle, including (from lateral to medial):

Deep to the muscle in the inferior 1/3 of the iliac fossa where there is no muscular attachment lies the iliac bursa which may or may not communicate with the hip joint.

Origin

The iliacus muscle originates from the iliac fossa (upper two-thirds), internal lip of the iliac crest, lateral aspect of the sacrum, anterior sacroiliac and iliolumbar ligaments.

Insertion

The iliacus merges with the psoas major muscle and form a common tendon that inserts on the lesser trochanter of the femur.

Arterial supply

The iliacus muscle is mainly supplied by the iliolumbar artery - a branch of the internal iliac artery. Besides that, it also receives arterial blood supply from the branches of the femoral, obturator and deep circumflex iliac arteries.