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 inc ...

s in the human

groin In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial co ...

. Located in the femoral triangle of the inguinal region, they are grouped into superficial and deep lymph nodes. The superficial have three divisions: the superomedial, superolateral, and inferior superficial.

Superficial inguinal lymph nodes

* The superficial inguinal lymph nodes are the inguinal lymph nodes that form a chain immediately below the inguinal ligament. They lie deep to the fascia of Camper that overlies the femoral vessels at the medial aspect of the

thigh In human 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 ...

. They are bounded superiorly by the inguinal ligament in the femoral triangle; laterally by the border of the sartorius muscle, and medially by the adductor longus muscle. They are divided into three groups: * inferior – inferior of the saphenous opening 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 in humans is the space between the anus and scrotum in the male, or between the anus and the vulva in the female. The perineum is the region of the body between the pubic symphysis (pubic arch) and the coccyx (tail bone), inclu ...

and

genitals A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, ...

. There are approximately ten superficial lymph nodes, and they drain to the deep inguinal lymph nodes. Inguinal lymph nodes may normally be up to 2 cm in size. Last updated: Last updated: Feb 16, 2017 They receive lymphatic afferents from the following: *

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

of the

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum co ...

buttock The buttocks (singular: 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 ...

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 v ...

below the level of the umbilicus * back 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 superiolateral margin of the greater pelvis. Structure The iliac crest stretches posteriorly from the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) to the poste ...

vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, v ...

anus The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, d ...

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

Deep inguinal lymph nodes

There can be three, four or five deep inguinal lymph nodes. They lie medial to the

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

under the cribriform fascia. The uppermost node is in the

, under the inguinal ligament, and is called Cloquet's node (also Rosenmuller's node). This node is named for French surgeon Jules Germain Cloquet, or for German anatomist Johann Christian Rosenmüller. It can also be considered as the lowest of the external iliac lymph nodes. Cloquet's node is also considered as a potential sentinel lymph node. 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 ...

Lymph node 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 deviations 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.

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 cl ...

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

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread 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, then, ...

from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

s, such as

anal cancer Anal cancer is a cancer which arises from the anus, the distal opening of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms may include bleeding from the anus or a lump near the anus. Other symptoms may include pain, itchiness, or discharge from the anus. A ...

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 vaginal glands are affected. Symptoms include a lump, itchiness, changes in t ...

. 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 ex ...

inguinal lymph node beneath the bifurcation of

superior epigastric vein In human anatomy, superior epigastric veins are two or more venae comitantes which accompany either superior epigastric artery before emptying into the internal thoracic vein. They participate in the drainage of the superior surface of the di ...

. 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