Iliolumbar artery

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The iliolumbar artery is a branch of the posterior trunk of the internal iliac artery.

Course

The iliolumbar artery turns upward behind the obturator nerve and the external iliac artery and vein, to the medial border of the psoas major, behind which it divides into a lumbar and an iliac branch.

Lumbar branch

The lumbar branch of the iliolumbar artery (ramus lumbalis) supplies the psoas major and quadratus lumborum, anastomoses with the last lumbar artery, and sends a small spinal branch through the intervertebral foramen between the last lumbar vertebra and the sacrum, into the vertebral canal to supply the cauda equina.

Iliac branch

The iliac branch of the iliolumbar artery(ramus iliacus) descends to supply the iliacus muscle; some offsets, running between the muscle and the bone, anastomose with the iliac branches of the obturator artery; one of these enters an oblique canal to supply the bone, while others run along the crest of the ilium, distributing branches to the gluteal and abdominal muscles, and anastomosing in their course with the superior gluteal artery, iliac circumflex artery, and the lateral circumflex femoral artery.

External links

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• Illustration at mrcog-wiseowl.com