_1_, External pudic artery and small satellite vein; _2_, anastomosis
between external pudic and internal circumflex veins; _3_, accessory
ligament; _4_, round ligament; _5_, transverse ligament; _6_, head
of femur; _7_, obturator externus (stumps); _8_, inner margin of
obturator foramen; _9_, origin of gracilis; _10_, origin of
adductor; _11_, bulbo-cavernosus; _12_, retractor penis; _13_,
suspensory ligament of penis. (After Schmaltz, Atlas d. Anat. d.
Pferdes.)
]
5. The =anterior gluteal artery= (A. glutea cranialis) is the largest
branch of the internal iliac. It arises usually opposite to the
preceding vessel and passes outward through the great sacro-sciatic
foramen, dividing into several branches as it emerges; these enter the
gluteal muscles (Fig. 455).
6. The =iliaco-femoral= or =external circumflex artery= (A. cireumflexa
femoris lateralis) passes downward and outward across and beneath the
shaft of the ilium, under cover of the iliacus muscle, and dips in
between the rectus femoris and vastus externus. It is accompanied by two
satellite veins. It gives collateral branches to the ilio-psoas, the
glutei, and the tensor fasciæ latæ, supplies the nutrient artery of the
ilium, and terminates in the quadriceps femoris (Fig. 455).
7. The =obturator artery= (A. obturatoria), the inner terminal branch of
the internal iliac, passes downward and backward on the pelvic surface
of the shaft of the ilium along the ventral border of the iliac head of
the obturator internus, accompanied by the satellite vein and nerve,
which lie in front of the artery (Fig. 451). On reaching the anterior
border of the obturator foramen it dips under the obturator internus and
passes obliquely through the foramen. In this part of its course it
gives off a vesical branch and twigs to the obturator internus and the
hip joint. After its emergence from the pelvic cavity it runs backward
on the ventral face of the ischium, passes through the semimembranosus
and, in the male, enters the crus penis, forming the arteria profunda
penis. It anastomoses with the internal pudic, and usually with the
external pudic by a branch which runs forward on the dorsum penis. Large
collateral branches are detached to the adductors of the thigh, the
biceps femoris and semitendinosus, forming anastomoses with the deep
femoral and posterior femoral arteries. In the female the terminal part
is small and enters the root of the clitoris.