| Frenulum labiorum pudendi | |
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| External genital organs of female. The labia minora have been drawn apart. (Label="Frenulum pudendi") | |
| Latin | frenulum labiorum pudendi |
| Gray's | subject #270 1265 |
In female human anatomy, the frenulum labiorum pudendi (aka the fourchette or the posterior commissure of the labia minora) is a frenulum where the labia minora meet posteriorly.
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The fourchette may be torn during delivery due to the sudden stretching of the vulval orifice, or during intercourse. To prevent this tearing in a haphazard manner, obstetricians and, less frequently, midwives may perform an episiotomy, which is a deliberate cut made in the perineum starting from the fourchette and continuing back along the perineum toward the anus. Sometimes this surgical cut may extend to involve the perineal body and thus reduce anal sphicter function. Thus some obstetricians have opted to perform a posterio-lateral cut in the perineum to prevent this potential complication from occurring.
The fourchette may also be torn in acts of violence wherein forced entry occurs such as rape. When the fourchette gets torn the bleeding which ensues sometimes requires surgical suturing for containment.
"Fourchette" is French for "little fork",[1][2] and the word is also used as a technical term for a type of dessert fork. (See frenulum for details on the etymology of that word.)
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