The Spermatic cord

Question 1

What is the spermatic cord?

What is the course of the spermatic cord?

Answer 1

A collection of vessels nerves and ducts that travels to and from the testes. They are surrounded by fascia forming a cord like structure.

Found at the opening of the inguinal canal it passes into the scrotum through the superficial inguinal ring

Question 2

What important structures lie within the spermatic cord?

Answer 2

Testicular artery, vas deferens artery, pampiform plexus, genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve, vas deferens, lymph vessels

Question 3

What is the pampiniform plexus

Where do the testicular veins drain?

Answer 3

Drains venous blood from the testis into the testicular vein. It wraps itself around the testicular artery so as to only allow heat exchange and therefore cooling the arterial blood

Right-IVC
Left- left renal vein

Question 4

What is the vas deferens?

Answer 4

Thick muscular tube that coneys spem from the epididimis into the ejaculatory vesicle. Its walls are lined by smooth muscle

it travels up the epiddydimis, round to the inferior epigastric artery,past the back of the bladder, past the ureter and into the seminal vesicle

Question 5

What is testicular torsion

Answer 5

Tangling of the spermatic cord around the testicles. Leads to strangulation of the testicular artery and testicular necrosis. It is a surgical emergency and typically presents with severe pain in the affected testis