STUDY OF VARIATIONS IN ANTERIOR DIVISION OF INTERNAL ILIAC ARTERY

Background: The internal iliac artery is the chief pelvic artery. It supplies to the all pelvic viscera, musculoskeletal part of the pelvis. The branches of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery are the superior and inferior vesical, middle rectal, vaginal, obturator, uterine, internal pudendal and inferior gluteal. Knowledge of internal iliac artery is very helpful in pelvic surgery practice. Methods: 50 adult human pelvic halves were procured from embalmed cadavers of J.J.M. Medical College and S.S.I.M.S & R.C, Davangere, Karnataka, India for the study. Results: Middle rectal artery took origin from anterior division in 42 specimens (84%), most frequently with internal pudendal artery in 32 specimens (64%) and was found to be absent in 8 specimens (16%). The obturator artery took origin most frequently from the anterior division of Internal iliac artery in 36 specimens (72%), from posterior division in 9 specimens (18%), from external iliac artery in 1 specimen (2%) and from inferior epigastric artery in 3 specimens (6%). The superior vesical artery, inferior vesical artery, uterine artery, vaginal artery and superior gluteal artery were found to be constant in their origin and course. Conclusions : The branches anterior division of internal iliac artery shows multiple variations, knowledge about these variation are helpful in pelvic surgeries