Mastering Hernia Surgery - 5: Applied anatomy of femoral canal and ring - Anatomy recall
Mastering hernia surgery needs a clear understanding of the anatomy of the groin and the ligaments relevant to it. The myopectineal orifice of Fruchaud is also discussed in this video.
The femoral sheath is a passageway in the inguinal region through which the femoral vessels and nerve pass from the abdominal cavity to the thigh and is formed by fascia transversalis anteriorly and fascia iliaca posteriorly.
The femoral nerve is posterolateral to the femoral artery and the femoral artery is anterolateral to the femoral vein. The femoral nerve lies outside the femoral sheath.
The femoral ring is the opening of the medial most empty space of the femoral sheath the femoral canal and is bounded by the inguinal ligament anteriorly, lacunar ligament medially, cooper ligament posteriorly, and femoral vein laterally. The femoral hernia when present develops across this opening.
It is important to remember this during femoral hernia surgery as the femoral ring can be incised only medially on the lacunar ligament after ruling out the accessory Obturator artery which can be present on the lacunar ligament and susceptible to injury.