The internal obturator muscle or obturator internus muscle originates on the medial surface of the obturator membrane, the ischium near the membrane, and the rim of the pubis.
The internal obturator is situated partly within the lesser pelvis, and partly at the back of the hip-joint.
It functions to help laterally rotate femur with hip extension and abduct femur with hip flexion, as well as to steady the femoral head in the acetabulum.
It also arises from the pelvic surface of the obturator membrane.[1] This is except in the posterior part, from the tendinous arch which completes the canal for the passage of the obturator vessels and nerve, and to a slight extent from the obturator fascia, which covers the muscle.
Passage
The fibers converge through the lesser sciatic foramen.[1] These end in four or five tendinous bands, which are found on the deep surface of the muscle. These bands are reflected at a right angle over the grooved surface of the ischium between its spine and tuberosity.
The obturator nerve passes on the superficial surface of the internal obturator muscle.[3] The pudendal nerve passes on the lateral surface of the internal obturator muscle and the coccygeus muscle.[4] The sciatic nerve passes superficial to the internal obturator muscle on the posterior surface.[5][6]
This bony surface is covered by smooth cartilage, which is separated from the tendon by a bursa, and presents one or more ridges corresponding with the furrows between the tendinous bands.
These bands leave the pelvis through the lesser sciatic foramen and unite into a single flattened tendon, which passes horizontally across the capsule of the hip-joint, and, after receiving the attachments of the superior and inferior gemellus muscles, is inserted into the forepart of the medial surface of the greater trochanter above the trochanteric fossa.
A bursa, narrow and elongated in form, is usually found between the tendon and the capsule of the hip-joint. It occasionally communicates with the bursa between the tendon and the ischium.