Fascial compartments of thigh

Cross section of the thigh showing the fascial compartments in different colors

The fascial compartments of thigh are the three fascial compartments that divide and contain the thigh muscles. The fascia lata is the strong and deep fascia of the thigh, that surrounds the thigh muscles and forms the outer limits of the compartments. Internally the muscle compartments are divided by the lateral and medial intermuscular septa.

The compartmentalised groups of muscles have their own nerve supply:

The anterior compartment of thigh contains the sartorius muscle and the four quadriceps – the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius vastus medialis and the articularis genus. They are supplied by the femoral nerve.

The medial compartment of thigh contains the pectineus, external obturator, and the gracilis muscles, together with the four adductors – the longus, brevis, magnus and minimus. They are supplied by the obturator nerve.

The posterior compartment of thigh contains the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles. They are supplied by the sciatic nerve.

See also

• Compartment syndrome
• Fascial compartments of arm

External links

• knee/muscles/index at the Dartmouth Medical School's Department of Anatomy