Obturator artery
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| Artery: Obturator artery | |
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| The relations of the femoral and abdominal inguinal rings, seen from within the abdomen. Right side. (Obturator artery is visible at bottom.) | |
| Latin | arteria obturatoria |
| Gray's | subject #155 616 |
| Supplies | Obturator externus muscle, medial compartment of thigh, femur |
| Source | internal iliac artery |
| Branches | anterior branch, posterior branch |
| Dorlands / Elsevier | a_61/12155276 |
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The obturator artery passes antero-inferiorly (forwards and downwards) on the lateral wall of the pelvis, to the upper part of the obturator foramen, and, escaping from the pelvic cavity through the obturator canal, it divides into both an anterior and a posterior branch.
Inside the pelvis
In the pelvic cavity this vessel is in relation, laterally, with the obturator fascia; medially, with the ureter, ductus deferens, and peritoneum; while a little below it is the obturator nerve.
Inside the pelvis the obturator artery gives off iliac branches to the iliac fossa, which supply the bone and the Iliacus, and anastomose with the ilio-lumbar artery; a vesical branch, which runs backward to supply the bladder; and a pubic branch, which is given off from the vessel just before it leaves the pelvic cavity.
The pubic branch ascends upon the back of the pubis, communicating with the corresponding vessel of the opposite side, and with the inferior epigastric artery.
Outside the pelvis
Outside the pelvis, the obturator artery divides at the upper margin of the obturator foramen, into an anterior branch and a posterior branch which encircle the foramen under cover of the Obturator externus.
Peculiarities
The obturator artery sometimes arises from the main stem or from the posterior trunk of the hypogastric, or it may spring from the superior gluteal artery; occasionally it arises from the external iliac.
 Variations in origin and course of obturator artery. |
In about two out of every seven cases it springs from the inferior epigastric and descends almost vertically to the upper part of the obturator foramen. The artery in this course usually lies in contact with the external iliac vein, and on the lateral side of the femoral ring (Figure A on diagram); in such cases it would not be endangered in the operation for strangulated femoral hernia.
Occasionally, however, it curves along the free margin of the lacunar ligament (Figure B), and if in such circumstances a femoral hernia occurred, the vessel would almost completely encircle the neck of the hernial sac, and would be in great danger of being wounded if an operation were performed for strangulation.
Additional images
 Right hip bone. Internal surface. |
 Left Levator ani from within. |
External links
- SUNY Labs 43:13-0201 - "The Female Pelvis: Branches of Internal Iliac Artery"
- Norman/Georgetown pelvis (pelvicarteries)
- MedEd at Loyola Grossanatomy/dissector/practical/pelvis/pelvis15.html
- Variations at anatomyatlases.org
- Variations at anatomyatlases.org
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
Arteries of torso - abdomen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA: Anterior |
| ||||||
| AA: Posterior | visceral: middle suprarenal – renal (inferior suprarenal) – testicular/ovarianparietal: inferior phrenic (superior suprarenal) – lumbar – median sacral terminal: common iliac (IIA, EIA) | ||||||
| IIA: Anterior |
(superior vesical,
to ductus deferens) –
inferior vesical –
middle rectal –
uterine
(azygos of the vagina) –
vaginal –
obturator
(anterior branch,
posterior branch) –
internal pudendal
(inferior rectal,
perineal,
artery of the urethral bulb,
urethral,
deep artery of the penis,
dorsal artery of the penis) –
inferior gluteal
(accompanying of ischiadic nerve,
crucial anastomosis)
| ||||||
| IIA: Posterior | |||||||
| EIA | |||||||
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
