During a pelvic floor procedure, a surgeon traces the internal pudendal artery out of the pelvis. Through which sequence of openings does the artery travel to reach the perineum?

• A Greater sciatic foramen only
• B Lesser sciatic foramen only
• C Greater sciatic foramen, then lesser sciatic foramen ✓
• D Obturator canal, then lesser sciatic foramen

Explanation

The internal pudendal artery leaves the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen below piriformis, hooks around the sacrospinous ligament at the ischial spine, and re-enters the perineum through the lesser sciatic foramen, entering the pudendal canal with the pudendal nerve. The obturator canal transmits the obturator vessels and nerve, not the pudendal neurovascular bundle. The ischial spine is the landmark used to give a pudendal nerve block.

Reference: Gray's Anatomy for Students, 4th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.