Internal pudendal artery

The internal pudendal artery is one of the three pudendal arteries that branches off the internal iliac artery, providing blood to the external genitalia.

Internal pudendal artery
Internal iliac artery with branches, including internal pudendal artery.
The superficial branches of the internal pudendal artery.
Details
Sourceinternal iliac artery
VeinInternal pudendal veins
Suppliesexternal genitalia, perineum
Identifiers
Latinarteria pudenda interna
TAA12.2.15.038
FMA18835
Anatomical terminology

The internal pudendal artery is the terminal branch of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery. It is smaller in the female than in the male.

Path

It arises from the anterior division of internal iliac artery. It runs on the lateral pelvic wall. It exits the pelvic cavity through the greater sciatic foramen, inferior to the piriformis muscle, to enter the gluteal region.

It then curves around the sacrospinous ligament to enter the perineum through the lesser sciatic foramen.

It travels through the pudendal canal with the internal pudendal veins and the pudendal nerve.

Branches

The internal pudendal artery gives off the following branches:

In femalesIn malesDescription
Inferior rectal arteryInferior rectal arteryto anal canal
Perineal arteryPerineal arterysupplies transversus perinei superficialis muscle
Posterior labial branchesPosterior scrotal branches-
Artery of bulb of vestibuleArtery of bulb of penissupplies bulb of vestibule/bulb of penis
Dorsal artery of clitorisDorsal artery of the penis-
Deep artery of clitorisDeep artery of the penisto corpus cavernosum penis

The deep artery of clitoris is a branch of the internal pudendal artery and supplies the clitoral crura. Another branch of the internal pudendal artery is the dorsal artery of clitoris.

Some sources consider the urethral artery a direct branch of the internal pudendal artery,[1] while others consider it a branch of the perineal artery.

In males, the internal pudendal artery also gives rise to the perforating arteries of the penis.

Additional images

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.