Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 423
| with its fellow of the opposite side to form the greater part of the floor of the pelvic cavity. It supports the viscera in this cavity, and surrounds the various structures which pass through it. It arises, in front, from the posterior surface of the superior ramus of the pubis lateral to the symphysis; behind, from the inner surface of the spine of the ischium; and between these two points, from the obturator fascia. Posteriorly, this fascial origin corresponds, more or less closely, with the tendinous arch of the pelvic fascia, but in front, the muscle arises from the fascia at a varying distance above the arch, in some cases reaching nearly as high as the canal for the obturator vessels and nerve. The fibers pass downward and backward to the middle line of the floor of the pelvis; the most posterior are inserted into the side of the last two segments of the coccyx; those placed more anteriorly unite with the muscle of the opposite side, in a median fibrous raphé (anococcygeal raphé), which extends between the coccyx and the margin of the anus. The middle fibers are inserted into the side of the rectum, blending with the fibers of the Sphincter muscles; lastly, the anterior fibers descend upon the side of the prostate to unite beneath it with the muscle of the opposite side, joining with the fibers of the Sphincter ani externus and Transversus perinæi, at the central tendinous point of the perineum. |
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FIG. 404– Left Levator ani from within. (See enlarged image) |