The inferior gluteal artery (sciatic artery), the larger of the two terminal branches of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery, is distributed chiefly to the buttock and back of the thigh.
It then descends in the interval between the greater trochanter of the femur and tuberosity of the ischium, accompanied by the sciatic and posterior femoral cutaneous nerves, and covered by the Glutæus maximus, and is continued down the back of the thigh, supplying the skin, and anastomosing with branches of the perforating arteries.
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