Iliopubic tract

Iliopubic tract
Femoral sheath laid open to show its three compartments.
Latin tractus iliopubicus
Gray's subject #118 419

The iliopubic tract is a thickened band of fibers curving over the external iliac vessels, at the spot where they become femoral, on the abdominal side of the inguinal ligaments and loosely connected with it. It is apparently a thickening of the transversalis fascia joined laterally to the iliac crest, and arching across the front of the femoral sheath to be inserted by a broad attachment into the pubic tubercle and pectineal line, behind the inguinal falx. In some subjects this structure is not very prominently marked, and not infrequently it is altogether wanting. It can be of clinical significance in hernia repair.[1]

References

  1. ^ Teoh L, Hingston G, Al-Ali S, Dawson B, Windsor J (1999). "The iliopubic tract: an important anatomical landmark in surgery". J Anat 194(Pt 1): 137–41. PMC 1467901. PMID 10227675. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1467901. 

External links

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.