1364 



THE URINOGENI1AL ORGANS 



The two anterior true ligaments or puboprostatic ligaments (ligamenta pubo- 

 prostatica) extend from the back of the ossa pubis, one on each side of the sym- 

 physis, to the front of the neck of the bladder, over the anterior surface of the 

 prostate gland. 



The two lateral true ligaments, formed by expansions from the fascia lining the 

 lateral wall of the pelvis, are broader and thinner than the preceding. They 

 are attached to the lateral parts of the prostate gland and to the sides of the base 

 of the bladder. 



The urachus or middle umbilical ligament is the fibromuscular cord already men- 

 tioned, extending between the summit of the bladder and the umbilicus. 



The two posterior false ligaments pass forward, in the male, from the sides of 

 the rectum (plicae rectovesicales); in the female, from the sides of the uterus (plicae 

 vesicouterinae), to the posterior and lateral aspect of the bladder; they form in 

 the male the lateral boundaries of the rectovesical pouch (excavatio rectovesicalis 

 (Figs. 339 and 1049); in the female the peritoneum is reflected from the rectum 

 to the upper part of the posterior vaginal wall, forming the rectovaginal pouch 



FIG. 1112. Fibres of the external 

 longitudinal layer. (Poirier and 

 Charpy.) . 



FIG. 1113. Fibres of the middle FIG. 1114. Fibres of the inter- 

 or circular layer. (Poirier and nal longitudinal \ayer. (Poirier 

 Charpy.) and Charpy.) 



or pouch of Douglas (Fig. 1050). It is continued over the posterior surface and 

 fundus of the uterus on to its anterior surface and then to the bladder, forming 

 here a second but shallower pouch, the uterovesical pouch, bounded on either 

 side by the uterovesical or posterior false ligaments of the bladder. The poste- 

 rior false ligaments contain the impervious hypogastric arteries and the ureters, 

 together with vessels and nerves. In the base of each fold is smooth muscle 

 fibre, the Rectovesical muscle (m. rectovesicalis). 



The two lateral false ligaments are reflections of the peritoneum, from the 

 iliac fossae and lateral walls of the pelvis to the sides of the bladder. Each lateral 

 false ligament (ligamentum umbilicale laterale) passes in front into the plica 

 umbilicalis lateralis over the corresponding hypogastric artery. The two lateral 

 reflections of peritoneum are continuous in front of the apex of the bladder, at 

 which point the peritoneum passes upon the urachus. 



The superior or anterior false ligament (suspensory ligament; plica umbilicalis 

 media) is the prominent fold of peritoneum extending from the summit of the 

 bladder to the umbilicus. It is carried off from the bladder by the urachus. The 



