Read duttons orthope page 96 …detail

Femora n erve (l 2–4)

T e emoral nerve, the largest branch o the lumbar plexus,
arises rom the lateral border o the psoas just above the
inguinal ligament. T e nerve descends beneath this ligament
to enter the emoral triangle on the lateral side o the emoral
artery, where it divides into terminal branches. Above the
inguinal ligament, the emoral nerve supplies the iliopsoas
muscle, and, in the thigh, it supplies the sartorius, pectineus,
and quadriceps emoris muscles.
T e sensory distribution o the emoral nerve includes the
anterior and medial sur aces o the thigh via the anterior emoral
cutaneous nerve and the medial aspect o the knee, the
proximal leg, and articular branches to the knee via the saphenous
nerve (Fig. 3-18), the largest cutaneous branch o the
emoral nerve. T e saphenous nerve exits rom the adductor
(Hunter’s, or subsartorial) canal, descends under the sartorius
Entrapment o the saphenous nerve o en results in marked
pain at the medial aspect o the knee.
Femoral nerve palsy has been reported a ter acetabular
racture, cardiac catheterization, total hip arthroplasty,
or anterior lumbar spinal usion, and spontaneously in
hemophilia.106–108