450 



THE EXTERNAL ILIAC ARTERY. 



EXTERNAL ILIAC ARTERY. 



The external of the two arteries resulting from the division of the 

 common iliac forms a large continuous trunk, which extends down- 

 wards in the limb as far as the lower border of the popliteus muscle, 

 but, for convenience of description, it is named in successive parts of 

 its course external iliac, femoral and popliteal. 



The external iliac artery, larger than the internal iliac, is placed 

 within the abdomen, and extends from the division of the common iliac 

 to the lower border of Poupart's ligament, where the vessel enters the 

 thigh, and is named femoral. Descending obliquely outwards, its 

 course through the abdominal cavity may be marked by a line drawn 

 from the left side of the umbilicus to a point midway between the 

 anterior superior spinous process of the ilium and the symphysis pubis. 

 This line would also indicate the direction of the common iliac artery, 

 of which the external iliac is the direct continuation. 



Fig. 2S8.— View op 



THE PRINCIPAL AR- 

 TERIES OF A Male 

 Pelvis. (A.T.) i 



For the detailed de- 

 scription of tliis figure 

 see p. 438. 



2', the right external 

 iliac artery, accompa- 

 nied by the con-espond- 

 ing veiu 4', passing 

 below into the femoral 

 vessel under Poupart's 

 ligament ; 12, epigas- 

 tric artei-y winding to 

 the inside of +, + , 

 the spei'matic cord ; 

 the epigastric artery is 

 cut short superiorly ; 

 13, circumflex iliac 

 artery anastomosing 

 with 15, branches of 

 the ilio-lumbar ; 14, 

 spermatic artery and 

 vein descending to join 

 the spermatic cord ; 

 -1-, within the pelvis, 

 the vas deferens de- 

 scending from the cord 

 towards the bladder. 



The vessel is 

 covered by the 

 peritoneum and 

 intestines. It lies along the upper margin of the true pelvis, resting 

 upon the inner border of the psoas muscle. The artery, however, is 

 separated from the muscle by the fascia iliaca, to which it is bound, 

 together with the external iliac vein, by the sub-peritoneal tissue. 



Relation to Veins, &c. — The external iliac vein lies at first behind the 

 artery with an inclination to the inner side ; but, as both vessels ap- 

 proach Poupart's ligament at the fore part of the pelvis, the vein is on 

 the same plane with the artery and quite to the inner side, being borne 



