Inguinal lymph nodes are lymph nodes in the groin. They are situated in the femoral triangle of the inguinal region. They are subdivided into two groups: the superficial inguinal lymph nodes and deep inguinal lymph nodes.
The superficial inguinal lymph nodes are the inguinal lymph nodes that form a chain immediately inferior to the inguinal ligament. They lie deep to the fascia of Camper that overlies the femoral vessels at the medial aspect of the thigh. 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.
There are approximately 10 superficial lymph nodes. They normally measure up to 2 cm in diameter.[1]
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 and genitals.[2]
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.[5] A size of up to 10 mm is generally regarded as a cut-off value for normal vs abnormal inguinal lymph node size.[6]
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.[12]
The presence of swollen inguinal lymph nodes is an important clinical sign because lymphadenopathy (swelling) may indicate an infection, or spread as a metastasis from cancers, such as anal cancer and vulvar cancer. Inguinal lymph nodes may normally be up to 2 cm.[1] The cut-off value for normal sized inguinal nodes is up to 10 mm.[6]
^ abLoukas M, El-Sedfy A, Tubbs RS, Wartman C (November 2007). "Jules Germain Cloquet (1790-1883)--drawing master and anatomist". Am Surg. 73 (11): 1169–72. PMID18092657.
^Bontumasi, Nicholas; Jacobson, Jon A.; Caoili, Elaine; Brandon, Catherine; Kim, Sung Moon; Jamadar, David (2014). "Inguinal lymph nodes: size, number, and other characteristics in asymptomatic patients by CT". Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy. 36 (10): 1051–1055. doi:10.1007/s00276-014-1255-0. ISSN0930-1038. PMID24435023.
^ abZhu Y, Zhang SL, Ye DW, et al. (May 2009). "Prospectively packaged ilioinguinal lymphadenectomy for penile cancer: the disseminative pattern of lymph node metastasis". J. Urol. 181 (5): 2103–8. doi:10.1016/j.juro.2009.01.041. PMID19286211.
^Shen P, Conforti AM, Essner R, Cochran AJ, Turner RR, Morton DL (2000). "Is the node of Cloquet the sentinel node for the iliac/obturator node group?". Cancer J. 6 (2): 93–7. PMID11069226.
