J Reconstr Microsurg 2011; 27(6): 349-354
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1278705
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Benjamin Alcock and the Pudendal Canal

Britt Colebunders1 , Michael K. Matthew1 , Niclas Broerm1 , John A. Persing1 , A. Lee Dellon2
  • 1Department of Surgery, Section of Plastic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
  • 2Departments of Plastic Surgery and Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
27 May 2011 (online)

ABSTRACT

The anatomy of the pudendal nerve is complex and difficult to visualize. Entrapment of the pudendal nerve is believed to occur in a canal, the pudendal canal or Alcock's canal, yet in the literature this term is used to refer to several different anatomic locations. We present a brief history of Benjamin Alcock, and we compare Alcock's original description of the pudendal canal with our findings from a cadaveric study. It is concluded that Alcock's canal for the pudendal nerve, as Alcock described it related to the pudendal artery, should be that portion of the pudendal nerve within the obturator internus fascia. This definition now permits future medical and surgical approaches to use the appropriate terminology for this anatomic location.

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A. Lee DellonM.D. Ph.D. 

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1122 Kenilworth Drive, Towson, Maryland 21204

Email: ALDellon@Dellon.com

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