Inguinal lymph nodes are

lymph node A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that includ ...

s in the

groin In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...

. They are situated in the

femoral triangle The femoral triangle (or Scarpa's triangle) is an anatomical region of the upper third of the thigh. It is a subfascial space which appears as a triangular depression below the inguinal ligament when the thigh is flexed, abducted and laterally r ...

of the inguinal region. They are subdivided into two groups: the superficial inguinal lymph nodes and deep inguinal lymph nodes.

Superficial inguinal lymph nodes

The superficial inguinal lymph nodes are the inguinal lymph nodes that form a chain immediately inferior to the

inguinal ligament The inguinal ligament (), also known as Poupart's ligament or groin ligament, is a band running from the pubic tubercle to the anterior superior iliac spine. It forms the base of the inguinal canal through which an indirect inguinal hernia may ...

. They lie deep to the

fascia of Camper The fascia of Camper is a thick superficial layer of the anterior abdominal wall. It is areolar in texture, and contains in its meshes a varying quantity of adipose tissue Adipose tissue (also known as body fat or simply fat) is a loose con ...

that overlies the femoral vessels at the medial aspect of the

thigh In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissu ...

. They are bounded superiorly by the inguinal ligament in the femoral triangle, laterally by the border of the

sartorius muscle The sartorius muscle () is the longest muscle in the human body. It is a long, thin, superficial muscle that runs down the length of the thigh in the anterior compartment. Structure The sartorius muscle originates from the anterior superior ilia ...

, and medially by the

adductor longus muscle In the human body, the adductor longus is a skeletal muscle located in the thigh. One of the adductor muscles of the hip, its main function is to adduct the thigh and it is innervated by the obturator nerve. It forms the medial wall of the ...

. There are approximately 10 superficial lymph nodes. They normally measure up to 2 cm in diameter. Last updated: Last updated: Feb 16, 2017 They are divided into three groups: * inferior – inferior of the

saphenous opening In anatomy, the saphenous opening (saphenous hiatus, also fossa ovalis) is an oval opening in the upper mid part of the fascia lata of the thigh. It lies 3–4 cm below and lateral to the pubic tubercle and is about 3 cm long and 1.5 ...

of the leg, receive drainage from lower legs * superolateral – on the side of the saphenous opening, receive drainage from the side buttocks and the lower abdominal wall. * superomedial – located at the middle of the saphenous opening, take drainage from the

perineum The perineum (: perineums or perinea) in placentalia, placental mammals is the space between the anus and the genitals. The human perineum is between the anus and scrotum in the male or between the anus and vulva in the female. The perineum is ...

and

genitals A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

Afferents

They may receive lymphatic afferents from the following as applicable: *

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, Exoskeleton, shell, germ or Peel (fruit), rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a coverin ...

of the

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

scrotum In most terrestrial mammals, the scrotum (: scrotums or scrota; possibly from Latin ''scortum'', meaning "hide" or "skin") or scrotal sac is a part of the external male genitalia located at the base of the penis. It consists of a sac of skin ...

buttock The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a laye ...

abdominal wall In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the vi ...

below the level of the umbilicus *

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

below the level of the

iliac crest The crest of the ilium (or iliac crest) is the superior border of the wing of ilium and the superolateral margin of the greater pelvis. Structure The iliac crest stretches posteriorly from the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) to the posterio ...

vulva In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...

anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...

(below the

pectinate line The pectinate line (dentate line) is a line which divides the upper two-thirds and lower third of the anal canal. Developmentally, this line represents the hindgut- proctodeum junction. It is an important anatomical landmark in humans, and fo ...

) * the thigh and the medial side of the leg (the lateral leg drains to the popliteal lymph nodes first).

Efferents

They drain to the deep inguinal lymph nodes.

Deep inguinal lymph nodes

The deep inguinal lymph nodes are 3-5 in number. They lie medial to the

femoral vein In the human body, the femoral vein is the vein that accompanies the femoral artery in the femoral sheath. It is a deep vein that begins at the adductor hiatus (an opening in the adductor magnus muscle) as the continuation of the popliteal v ...

deep to the

cribriform fascia The cribriform fascia (also known as the fascia cribrosa, or Hesselbach's fascia) is the portion of the superficial layer of the deep fascia of leg which extends between the sartorius muscle, adductor longus muscle, and inguinal ligament to form ...

Size

The mean size of an inguinal lymph node, as measured over the short-axis, is approximately 5.4 mm (range 2.1-13.6 mm), with two

standard deviation In statistics, the standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation of the values of a variable about its Expected value, mean. A low standard Deviation (statistics), deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean ( ...

s above the mean being 8.8 mm. A size of up to 10 mm is generally regarded as a cut-off value for normal vs abnormal inguinal lymph node size.

Cloquet's node

The superior-most node is situated in the

, deep to the

, and is termed the Cloquet's node (also Rosenmuller's node). It can instead be considered as the inferior-most of the

external iliac lymph nodes The external iliac lymph nodes are lymph nodes, from eight to ten in number, that lie along the external iliac vessels. They are arranged in three groups, one on the lateral, another on the medial, and a third on the anterior aspect of the vessel ...

. Cloquet's node is also considered as a potential

sentinel lymph node The sentinel lymph node is the hypothetical first lymph node or group of nodes draining a cancer. In case of established cancerous dissemination it is postulated that the sentinel lymph nodes are the target organs primarily reached by metastasiz ...

. This node is named for French surgeon

Jules Germain Cloquet Jules Germain Cloquet (18 December 1790 – 23 February 1883) was a French physician and surgeon who was born and practiced medicine in Paris. His older brother, Hippolyte Cloquet (1787-1840) and his younger nephew Ernest Cloquet (1818-1855) ...

, or for German anatomist Johann Christian Rosenmüller.

Efferents

The deep inguinal lymph nodes drain superiorly to the external iliac lymph nodes, then to the pelvic lymph nodes and on to the

paraaortic lymph nodes The periaortic lymph nodes (also known as lumbar) are a group of lymph nodes that lie in front of the lumbar vertebrae near the aorta. These lymph nodes receive drainage from the gastrointestinal tract and the abdominal organs. The periaortic ly ...

Clinical significance

The presence of swollen inguinal lymph nodes is an important clinical sign because

lymphadenopathy Lymphadenopathy or adenopathy is a disease of the lymph nodes, in which they are abnormal in size or consistency. Lymphadenopathy of an inflammatory type (the most common type) is lymphadenitis, producing swollen or enlarged lymph nodes. In c ...

(swelling) may indicate an infection, or spread as a

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

s, such as anal cancer and

vulvar cancer Vulvar cancer is a cancer of the vulva, the outer portion of the female genitals. It most commonly affects the labia majora. Less often, the labia minora, clitoris, or Bartholin's glands are affected. Symptoms include a lump, itchiness, changes i ...

. Inguinal lymph nodes may normally be up to 2 cm. The cut-off value for normal sized inguinal nodes is up to 10 mm.

Additional images

File:Inguinal_Lymph_nodes.png, A view of the different inguinal lymph nodes File:Inguinal lymph node MHCII-GFP mouse.jpg,

Murine The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...

inguinal lymph node beneath the bifurcation of superior epigastric vein. Bright structure visualised by MHC II- GFP construct, is the lymph node File:Lymph node regions.svg , Lymph node regions

References

{{Authority control Lymphatic organ anatomy