Urinary Bladder - Anatomy & Physiology

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BACK TO URINARY - ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY
  • The bladder is where urine is stored before being expelled by the body through the micturition reflex.
  • Without a bladder urinary continence would be impossible.

Anatomy

  • It is a hollow, muscular organ
  • It is divided for descriptive purposes into three parts
    • Cranial Pole
    • Intermediate body
    • Caudal neck
  • Its size and posistion are determined by how full it is.
    • When empty the bladder wall is wrinkled and thicker
    • When full and distended the folds dissapear and the wall appears thinner
  • The paired uteric folds are visible even when the bladder is full.
    • They extend from the ureteral opening to the neck of the bladder
    • Here they merge
    • Forms the urethral crest - continues into the urethra

The Ligaments of the Bladder

  • Two lateral ligaments
    • Insert in the dorsal abdominal wall
    • Within them are the residual umbilical vessels
  • Median ligament
    • Connects the bladder to pelvic floor and linea alba

Blood Supply, Innervation and Lymphatic Drainage

Blood Supply - Caudal vesicular artery

Sympathetic Innervation - Via hypogastric nerve from the caudal mesenteric ganglion

Parasympathetic Innervation - Pudendal nerve

Lymphatic Drainage - Iliosacral lymph nodes