Peculiarities
The obturator artery sometimes arises from the main stem or from the posterior trunk of the internal iliac artery, or it may arise from the superior gluteal artery; occasionally it arises from the external iliac.
In about two out of every seven cases it arises from the inferior epigastric and descends almost vertically to the upper part of the obturator foramen. The artery in this course usually lies in contact with the external iliac vein, and on the lateral side of the femoral ring (Figure A on diagram); in such cases it would not be endangered in the operation for strangulated femoral hernia.
Occasionally, however, it curves along the free margin of the lacunar ligament (Figure B), and if in such circumstances a femoral hernia occurred, the vessel would almost completely encircle the neck of the hernial sac, and would be in great danger of being wounded if an operation were performed for strangulation.
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