Description:
The iliohypogastric nerve is the main branch of the ventral ramus of the first lumbar spinal nerve. It passes between the deep and superficial heads of the psoas major to emerge from its lateral border at the superior end of the muscle. From here it passes behind the bottom of the kidney and then crosses the quadratus lumborum muscle to pass superficial to the transversus abdominis above the iliac crest. It supplies the muscles of the abdominal wall and also sends cutaneous branches into the overlying skin.