Anatomy
Course
A branch of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery. It branches from the anterior trunk just below the pelvic inlet, and runs anteriorly along the margin of the pelvic inlet. It leaves the pelvic cavity via the obturator canal. As it passes through the obturator canal it splits into two terminal branches, the anterior and posterior branches. The two branches form a circle around the obturator foramen, beneath the obturator externus muscle.
Supply
The obturator artery gives off some branches to supply muscles inside the pelvis wall, and supplies adductor muscles in the hip joint.
Clinical
Lies very close to the bone of the pubis, and may become damaged in the case of a fracture of the pubic rami.
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