Labia majora
| Labia majora | |
|---|---|
Labia majora and pudendal cleft
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| Details | |
| Latin | labium majus pudendi |
| Precursor | Genital swelling |
| Deep external pudendal artery | |
| Perineal branches of posterior femoral cutaneous nerve | |
| Identifiers | |
| Dorlands /Elsevier |
Labia majora |
| TA | Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 744: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| TH | {{#property:P1694}} |
| TE | {{#property:P1693}} |
| FMA | {{#property:P1402}} |
| Anatomical terminology
[[[d:Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 863: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|edit on Wikidata]]]
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The labia majora (singular: labium majus) are two prominent longitudinal cutaneous folds that extend downward and backward from the mons pubis to the perineum. The labia majora is homologous to the male scrotum.
Embryology
Embryologically, they develop from labioscrotal folds.[1]
Anatomy
The labia majora constitute the lateral boundaries of the pudendal cleft, which contains the labia minora, interlabial sulci, clitoral hood, clitoral glans, frenulum clitoridis, the Hart's Line, and the vulval vestibule, which contains the external openings of the urethra and the vagina. Each labium majus has two surfaces, an outer, pigmented and covered with strong, crisp hairs; and an inner, smooth and beset with large sebaceous follicles. The labia majora are covered with squamous epithelium. Between the two there is a considerable quantity of areolar tissue, fat, and a tissue resembling the dartos tunic of the scrotum, besides vessels, nerves, and glands. The labia majora are thicker in front, where they form by their meeting the anterior commisure of the labia majora. Posteriorly, they are not really joined, but appear to become lost in the neighboring integument, ending close to, and nearly parallel to, each other. Together with the connecting skin between them, they form the posterior commisure of the labia majora or posterior boundary of the pudendum. The interval between the posterior commissure of the labia majora and the anus, from 2.5 to 3 cm. in length, constitutes the perineum. Between the labia majora and the inner thighs are the labiocrural folds. Between the labia majora and labia minora are the interlabial sulci. Labia majora atrophy after menopause.
Use in grafting
The fat pad of the labia majora can be used as a graft, often as a so-called "Martius labial fat pad graft", and can be used, for example, in urethrolysis.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ Manual of Obstetrics. (3rd ed.). Elsevier. pp. 1-16. ISBN 9788131225561.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
