Inferior vesical artery

Artery: Inferior vesical artery
The arteries of the pelvis.
Latin	arteria vesicalis inferior
Gray's	subject #155 615
Supplies	Prostate, seminal vesicle, urinary bladder, vas deferens
Source	Internal iliac artery
Vein	Vesical venous plexus
Dorlands / Elsevier	a_61/12156518

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The inferior vesical artery is an artery in the pelvis that supplies the lower part of the bladder.

Structure

The inferior vesical artery is a branch (direct or indirect) of the anterior division of the internal iliac artery. It frequently arises in common with the middle rectal artery, and is distributed to the fundus of the bladder. In males, it also supplies the prostate and the seminal vesicles. The branches to the prostate communicate with the corresponding vessels of the opposite side.

Sex

The inferior vesical artery is present in both males and females. Many texts, however, consider it to be found only in males, and cite the vaginal artery as the homologous structure in females. Other texts have the inferior vesical artery in females as a small branch of a vaginal artery.

See also

• Superior vesical artery

External links

• SUNY Labs 43:13-0301 - "The Female Pelvis: Branches of Internal Iliac Artery"
• Inferior+vesical+artery at eMedicine Dictionary
• Norman/Georgetown pelvis (pelvicarteries)

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.