Which statement best describes the pelvic innervation by the obturator nerve?

Which statement best describes the pelvic innervation by the obturator nerve?

• A. It supplies pelvic structures
• B. It supplies the rectum
• C. It supplies the bladder
• D. It supplies no pelvic structures

Answer: (D)

The obturator nerve travels from the lumbar plexus into the pelvis and through the obturator canal to the medial thigh, where its main job is to innervate the adductor muscles. In the pelvis, its role is limited to a small articular branch to the hip joint and does not extend to the pelvic viscera or pelvic organs. The pelvic viscera get their autonomic innervation from the inferior hypogastric plexus and pelvic splanchnic nerves, not from the obturator nerve. So, its contribution to the pelvis is not to pelvic structures, making the statement that it supplies no pelvic structures the best description.

The obturator nerve travels from the lumbar plexus into the pelvis and through the obturator canal to the medial thigh, where its main job is to innervate the adductor muscles. In the pelvis, its role is limited to a small articular branch to the hip joint and does not extend to the pelvic viscera or pelvic organs. The pelvic viscera get their autonomic innervation from the inferior hypogastric plexus and pelvic splanchnic nerves, not from the obturator nerve. So, its contribution to the pelvis is not to pelvic structures, making the statement that it supplies no pelvic structures the best description.