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The inguinal ligament and its lateral attachments: Correcting an anatomical error
Author(s) -
Acland Robert D.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/ca.20579
Subject(s) - inguinal ligament , medicine , anatomy , confusion , dissection (medical) , cadaver , ligament , fascia , psychology , psychoanalysis
The inguinal portions of the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles are generally described as arising from the inguinal ligament. Previous authors have shown that this description is incorrect. A new dissection study in 15 lightly embalmed cadavers confirms that in reality the inguinal portions of these muscles arise from a thickened strip of ilipsoas fascia that forms the superolateral part of the ilio‐pectineal arch. Details are given of a new dissection technique that fully exposes the deep aspect of the inguinal ligament, without disrupting its continuity. The historical background of the persistent textbook error is explored. It originated at a time when there was widespread descriptive and semantic confusion regarding the structure now known as the inguinal ligament. Clin. Anat. 21:55–61, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.