A three-headed piriformis muscle: an anatomical case study and narrative review of literature

Abstract

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A Three-Headed Piriformis Muscle With Splitting of the Common Fibular Nerve

“…The absence of the piriformis muscle has been described by authors such as Brenner et al and Leal et al [17,18]. Lastly, the piriformis has been reported to have rarely, two heads with possible attachments to the sacrotuberous ligament, sacrum, or ilium, and recently, in a single case report, three heads but without splitting of the sciatic nerve such as was identified in the case presented herein [19]. The size of the three heads in our case compared to that of Kozioł et al [19] was comparable although the middle head in our case was shorter.…”

“…Lastly, the piriformis has been reported to have rarely, two heads with possible attachments to the sacrotuberous ligament, sacrum, or ilium, and recently, in a single case report, three heads but without splitting of the sciatic nerve such as was identified in the case presented herein [19]. The size of the three heads in our case compared to that of Kozioł et al [19] was comparable although the middle head in our case was shorter. Additionally, Deopujari et al reported a three-headed piriformis found in a cohort of 21 cadavers [20].…”

The inferior gluteal artery anatomy: a detailed analysis with implications for plastic and reconstructive surgery

“…There is a significant lack of data regarding the variable anatomy of the IGA. The arterial anatomy of the pelvis is known for being highly variable, making it a difficult area to operate in [12,16,26,27]. The origin of the IGA has not been sufficiently studied in the past, even though its highly relevant in embolization procedures for pseudoaneurysms [13].…”

The superior gluteal artery and the posterior division of the internal iliac artery: an analysis of their complete anatomy

“…The complex and variable nature of the arterial structure in the pelvic region poses challenges for surgical procedures in this area [4,9,13,14,17,21,24,26,27]. The anatomical aspects of the SGA have been discussed in the past.…”