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The pelvic floor or pelvic diaphragm is an anatomical location in the human body, [1] which has an important role in urinary and anal continence, sexual function and support of the pelvic organs. [2] The pelvic floor includes muscles, both skeletal and smooth, ligaments and fascia.
The same human pelvis, front imaged by X-ray (top), magnetic resonance imaging (middle), and 3-dimensional computed tomography (bottom). The pelvis (pl.: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, [1] between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton [2] (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton).
The pelvic cavity is a body cavity that is bounded by the bones of the pelvis. Its oblique roof is the pelvic inlet (the superior opening of the pelvis). Its lower boundary is the pelvic floor. The pelvic cavity primarily contains the reproductive organs, urinary bladder, distal ureters, proximal urethra, terminal sigmoid colon, rectum, and ...
The vagina is attached to the pelvic walls by endopelvic fascia. The peritoneum is the external layer of skin that covers the fascia. This tissue provides additional support to the pelvic floor. The endopelvic fascia is one continuous sheet of tissue and varies in thickness. It permits some shifting of the pelvic structures.
The lower portion is the pelvic cavity, and it contains the urinary bladder, the rest of the large intestine (the lower portion), and the internal reproductive organs. [2] [3] There is no membrane that separates out the abdominal cavity from the pelvic cavity, so the terms abdominal pelvis and peritoneal cavity are sometimes used.
The coccygeus muscle completes the pelvic floor, which is also called the pelvic diaphragm. It supports the viscera in the pelvic cavity, and surrounds the various structures that pass through it. The levator ani is the main pelvic floor muscle and contracts rhythmically during female orgasm, and painfully during vaginismus. [4]
Pelvic fascia extends to cover the organs within the pelvis. It is attached to the fascia that runs along the pelvic floor along the tendinous arch. The fascia which covers pelvic organs can be divided according to the organs that are covered: The front is known as the "vesical layer". It forms the anterior and lateral ligaments of the bladder.
Older texts have asserted the existence of a "urogenital diaphragm", which was described as a layer of the pelvis that separates the deep perineal sac from the upper pelvis. The deep perineal pouch lies between the inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm and superior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm.