"The presence of organs and other anatomical structures within the closely packed confines of the pelvis makes the study of the vascular patterns and their variations of much importance. The rapid development of surgical and investigatory techniques and expertise, especially in cases involving obstetric procedures or urogenital interventions, makes it essential to understand the vascular tree in the abdomen especially in the pelvis.
The obturator artery normally arises from the anterior trunk of internal iliac artery. In about 13-30%, the obturator artery has an anomalous origin. The origin may be either from external iliac or inferior epigastric. Normally, artery inclines anteroinferiorly on the lateral pelvic wall to the upper part of obturator foramen. In the pelvis, it is related laterally to obturator fascia separating it from obturator internus and is crossed medially by the ureter and the ductus deference separating it from parietal peritoneum, having the obturator nerve above and the obturator vein below. Obturator artery when arises from the inferior epigastric artery, if lies at the medial side of the ring, alongside the edge of the lacunar ligament, it is vulnerable to injury or division if the ligament has to be incised to release a strangulated femoral hernia.
(Sharma Maneesha, Sharma Tripta, Singh Richhpal and Arora Anterpreet Kaur- Variations of Obturator Artery in Man)."
Last date updated on September, 2024