Abstract

The canine pudendo-epigastric artery is a branch of deep femoral artery coming off from external iliac artery. Pudendo-epigastric trunk travels a short distance before it branches into caudal epigastric artery and external pudendal artery, thereby supplying blood to the caudoventral abdominal wall and scrotum in males or labia of vulva in females. We evaluated variations in the pudendo-epigastric trunk in 30 canine cadavers used for laboratory teaching. This study demonstrated that there are variations in length and branching pattern of pudenda-epigastric trunk. Out of the 30 dogs studied, Pudendo-epigastric trunk was completely absent in 9 (30%). In the dogs, where it was present, the length varied from 0.2cm to 5cm. In dogs with no pudendo-epigastric trunk, the caudal epigastric and the external pudendal arteries branch off from the deep femoral artery directly. This provides deeper understanding about variations in the pudendo-epigastric trunk and blood supply to the caudal abdominal wall, external genitalia, and medial aspect of the thigh region.