Abdominal wall

Abdominal wall

Body cavities

Diagram of sheath of Rectus above the arcuate line.
Details
Identifiers
Latin paries abdominalis
FMA 299989

Anatomical terminology

In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the posterior (back), lateral (sides) and anterior (front) walls.

There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the extraperitoneal fat, the parietal peritoneum, and a layer of fascia, which has different names according to what it covers (e.g., transversalis, psoas fascia).

In medical vernacular, the abdominal wall most commonly refers to the layers composing the anterior abdominal wall which, in addition to the layers mentioned above, includes the three layers of muscle: the transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle), the internal (obliquus internus) and the external oblique (obliquus externus).

Layers of anterior abdominal wall

In human anatomy, the layers of the abdominal wall are (from superficial to deep):

Inner surface

The surface contains several ligaments separated by fossae:

Ligament/fold Remnant of Lateral fossa Hernia
median umbilical ligament urachus supravesical fossa supravesical hernia (rare)
medial umbilical ligament umbilical artery medial inguinal fossa direct inguinal hernia
lateral umbilical fold inferior epigastric vessels lateral inguinal fossa indirect inguinal hernia

See also

External links

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