hi let's talk about the ischio-anal fossa in this video we'll discuss the location of the ischio-anal
fossa and diagram the contents located within as you may recall the anal triangle is a space
bounded posterior laterally by the sacrotuberous ligaments and is divided from the urogenital
triangle anteriorly by the inter-ischial line the majority of the anal triangle
is going to be occupied by the ischioanal fossae the ischioanal fossa will be on either side of the
external anal sphincter and is this space this wedge space bound by the the same boundaries
of the perineum but also include the muscles of the external anal sphincter it will have a floor
of the pelvic diaphragm a roof of the skin and a lateral wall of the
of the obturator internus muscle which is the lateral portion of the the pelvic wall
the greatest constituent of the ischioanal fossae is going to be adipose connective tissue
this region is richly imbued with a ton of adipose connective tissue and it's through that tissue
that neurovasculature is going to move out and supply the external anal sphincter as well as
move out to supply various elements of the perineum as we'll see now the pudendal nerve
the internal pudendal artery and the internal pudendal vein are all going to travel through
the pudendal canal also known as Alcock's canal more on that in a second the pudendal or Alcock's canal
is a space within the obturator internus fascia so the the lining of the the connective tissue
along the medial aspect of the obturator internus muscle and so they will be they being
the nerve artery and vein and their branches and tributaries conveyed through this space here we
can see the pudendal nerve and as well as some of its branches serving the external anal sphincter
as well as branches serving other elements of the perineum here and we can see the internal pudendal
artery coming out from the the same place on the ipsilateral side also having branches that serve
many different areas of the perineum um Alcock's canal is is actually named for a Benjamin Alcock
benjamin alcock was a noted irish anatomist he was the student of abraham colles for whom the
colles fracture is named and he was the the chair of anatomy at queen's college in York
and after the anatomy act of 1832 when cadavers began to become quite sparse
alcock was pressured by members of his department and administration
to source cadavers in an unethical manner alcock resisted this pressure and took a principled
stance upon which he resigned from the college in 1854 he tried to appeal that resignation in 1855
and was dismissed he left for the united states in 1859 and he was never heard from again
so we've discussed the uh the issue anal fossa its boundaries it being paired space
and its contents uh notably uh adipose connective tissue and the pudendal nerve and branches the
internal pudendal artery in its branches and the internal pudendal vein and its tributaries that
are transmitted through the pudendal canal this is your summary slide i thank you for your time