OBJECTIVEObserve the course,distribution and variation of inferior gluteal artery to provide an anatomic basis.

METHODS18 specimen (11 male and 7 female. 9 left and 9 right) were perfused with red latex to show inferior gluteal arteries and the tissue around them.

RESULTSUsually inferior gluteal artery travels through infrapiriform foramen and goes down along ischiadicus nerve. It gives three main branches as ramus of articularis, ramus of ischiadicus, ramus of muscularis at average distances of 17.3 mm, 33.2 mm and 51.8 mm to infrapiriform foramen and nourishes them respectively. However, variation was found in 7 of 18 specimen (5 are female) .

CONCLUSIONSThe course of inferior gluteal artery is steady in most cases, but sometimes variation can be found. Special examinations such as colour Doppler ultrasound are suggested to find the course of inferior gluteal artery on the whole level before operation.