Page 2 - SONO 260 Chapter 13 The Male Pelvis
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ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MALE PELVIS
• THE TESTICLES BEGIN TO DEVELOP IN THE UPPER ABDOMEN IN THE FETUS NEAR THE KIDNEYS AND DO NOT DESCEND INTO THE PELVIS UNTIL THE FOURTH WEEK OF GESTATION.
• BY 28 WEEKS, THE TESTICLES DESCEND INTO THE SCROTUM.
• THEY CAN BECOME TRAPPED ANYWHERE ALONG THE PATH, AND CONSEQUENTLY
NEVER COMPLETELY DESCEND INTO THE SCROTUM. • THIS CONDITION IS KNOWN AS CRYPTORCHDISM.
• THE NORMAL ADULT TESTICLES ARE LOCATED WITHIN A SAC OF CUTANEOUS TISSUE CALLED THE SCROTUM.
• THE SCROTUM IS EXTERNALLY DIVIDED IN THE MIDLINE INTO TWO COMPARTMENTS BY A STRUCTURE KNOWN AS THE MEDIAN RAPHE.
• INTERNALLY IT IS DIVIDED BY THE TUNICA DARTOS. Copyright © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
