Inguinal groove

The inguinal groove (lat. sulcus inguīnālis) is one of the longitudinal grooves on the inner surface of the anterior abdominal wall, located in the lower part of the abdominal cavity, directly above the pubic symphysis. Approximately in the middle of the distance between the symphysis and the pubic tubercle, it passes into the anterior femoral canal, which opens outward through a small oval hole in the thickness of the aponeurosis of the external oblique muscle, which represents the aponeurotic beginning of the umbilical cord. It also leads to the innominate canal in the teres femoris muscle, from which the lymph and genital vessels drain. The narrowing of the peritoneum at the level of the pubis allows the internal oblique and transverse muscles to overhang on the lower surface of the ischiopubic tendon, together forming the lower inguinal arch. The tendon is located near the midline, but not connected to it, and then turns to the inner side of the thigh below the superficial inguinal ring to be high from the level of the scrotum. The arch of tendon is the origin or intermediate tendon of the levator testis muscle. The intermedius tendon sometimes passes forward inside the hernial canal to the base of the greater omentum to complete its movement outside the dural sac, displacing the top under the greater and medial parts of the thoracolumbar fascia. The lower continuation of the arch is located inside or on the anterior wall of the inguinal canal, around the straight arteries.

The appearance of the inguinal groove is associated with human evolution: early monkeys did not have such a groove, but in baboons (which are the closest relatives of humans) the groove is located differently. Its possession in modern people is associated with a mutation of the vogt gene (Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada), which arose about 60 thousand years ago. This mutation results in the formation of two ducts instead of one, through which the embryo usually leaks from the mother into the womb through the vulva. The absence of an inguinal groove requires surgery for transfemoral epidural anesthesia and pump placement (mainly due to the resulting leakage), which increases the number of complications in this area.

The inguinal groove lies between the pterygium, consisting of the adjacent subcutaneous layer, the fascia proper of the thigh and the anterior wall of the inguinal ring. The structure of the groove is determined by the fibrous surface of the greater omentum and the indirect frontalis muscle. It is covered by tissues that pass to the surface from the medial side from the internal iliac vein and the lateral side from the tense, peripharyngeal fat. Terminology for the inguinal groove is virtually non-existent, although some women use the term "epigastric librum" or "umbilical space". Various