The lacunar ligament, also named Gimbernat's ligament, is a ligament in the Inguinal canal.[Moore, K.L., & Agur, A.M. (2007). Essential Clinical Anatomy: Third Edition. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 128. ] near the point where they both insert on the pubic tubercle.
Structure
The lacunar ligament is the part of the
aponeurosis of the external oblique muscle that is reflected backward and laterally and is attached to the pectineal line of the pubis.
It is about 1.25 cm. long, larger in the male than in the female, almost horizontal in direction in the erect posture, and of a triangular form with the base directed laterally.
Its base is concave, thin, and sharp, and forms the medial boundary of the femoral ring. Its apex corresponds to the pubic tubercle.
Its posterior margin is attached to the pectineal line, and is continuous with the pectineal ligament. Its anterior margin is attached to the inguinal ligament.
Its surfaces are directed upward and downward.
Clinical significance
The lacunar ligament is the only boundary of the
femoral canal that can be cut during surgery to release a
femoral hernia. Care must be taken when doing so as up to 25% of people have an aberrant
obturator artery (corona mortis) which can cause significant bleeding.
[" Corona Mortis ". Medical Terminology Daily. Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2017.]
History
The lacunar ligament is sometimes called
Gimbernat's ligament after Antoni de Gimbernat.
[Arráez-Aybar, LA & Bueno-López, JL. (2013). Antonio Gimbernat y Arbós: An Anatomist-surgeon of the Enlightenment (In the 220th Anniversary of his ‘‘A New Method of Operating the Crural Hernia’’). Clinical Anatomy 26:800–809]
==Additional images==
See also
-
Inguinal ligament
-
Pectineal ligament
External links
