Which nerve supplies hip adductors and provides sensation over the medial thigh?

Which nerve supplies hip adductors and provides sensation over the medial thigh?

• A. Obturator nerve
• B. Femoral nerve
• C. Sciatic nerve
• D. Radial nerve

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that the nerve responsible for both moving the thigh toward the midline and sensing the medial thigh is the obturator nerve. It comes from L2–L4 and travels through the obturator canal to reach the medial thigh, where it sends motor signals to the hip adductors (such as adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus’ adductor part, and gracilis) and provides cutaneous sensation to the skin on the inner thigh. That combination—motor to the hip adductors and sensory to the medial thigh—is why this nerve is the best answer. In contrast, the femoral nerve mainly controls the anterior thigh muscles (and provides sensation to the anterior thigh and part of the leg via the saphenous nerve), not the hip adductors or the medial thigh skin. The sciatic nerve covers most of the posterior thigh and leg/foot regions, not the medial thigh. The radial nerve serves the upper limb, far from this region.

The main idea is that the nerve responsible for both moving the thigh toward the midline and sensing the medial thigh is the obturator nerve. It comes from L2–L4 and travels through the obturator canal to reach the medial thigh, where it sends motor signals to the hip adductors (such as adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus’ adductor part, and gracilis) and provides cutaneous sensation to the skin on the inner thigh. That combination—motor to the hip adductors and sensory to the medial thigh—is why this nerve is the best answer.

In contrast, the femoral nerve mainly controls the anterior thigh muscles (and provides sensation to the anterior thigh and part of the leg via the saphenous nerve), not the hip adductors or the medial thigh skin. The sciatic nerve covers most of the posterior thigh and leg/foot regions, not the medial thigh. The radial nerve serves the upper limb, far from this region.