A 32-year-old man undergoes vasectomy as a means of permanent birth control. A physician performing the vasectomy by making an incision on each side of the scrotum should remember which of the following statements most applicable to the scrotum?
(A) It is innervated by the ilioinguinal and
genitofemoral nerves.
(B) It receives blood primarily from the testicular
artery.
© Its venous blood drains primarily into
the renal vein on the left.
(D) Its lymphatic drainage is primarily into
upper lumbar nodes.
(E) Its dartos tunic is continuous with the
perineal membrane.
Explanation:
The answer is A. The scrotum is innervated by branches of the ilioinguinal, genitofemoral,
pudendal, and posterior femoral cutaneous nerves. The scrotum receives blood from the
posterior scrotal branches of the internal pudendal arteries and the anterior scrotal
branches of the external pudendal arteries, but it does not receive blood from the testicular
artery. Similarly, the scrotum is drained by the posterior scrotal veins into the internal
pudendal vein. The lymph vessels from the scrotum drain into the superfi cial inguinal
nodes, whereas the lymph vessels from the testis drain into the upper lumbar nodes. The
dartos tunic is continuous with the membranous layer of the superfi cial perineal fascia
(Colles’s fascia).