The deep perineal pouch (also deep perineal space) is an anatomical term that refers to the partially enclosed space in the perineum, located superiorly to the perineal membrane.

Unlike the superficial perineal pouch, the deep perineal pouch lacks a superior border. It extends up into the pelvis.

The deep perineal pouch contains:

• muscles
  • Deep transverse perineal muscle
  • External sphincter muscle of urethra
• other
  • Membranous portion of the urethra (males) / proximal portion of urethra (females)
  • Bulbourethral gland (males). (Note: The Bartholin gland is the female counterpart to the bulbourethral gland in males, but it is located in the superficial perineal pouch.)
  • Vagina (females)

Older texts have asserted the existence of an “urogenital diaphragm”, which was described as a layer of the pelvis that separates the deep perineal sac from the upper pelvis, lying between the inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm and superior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm.

While this term is used to refer to a layer of the pelvis that separates the deep perineal sac from the upper pelvis, such a discrete border of the sac probably does not exist.^{[1][2][3] [4][5]}

While it has no official entry in Terminologia Anatomica, the term is still used occasionally to describe the muscular components of the deep perineal pouch^[6] The urethra and the vagina, though part of the pouch, are usually said to be passing through the urogenital diaphragm, rather than part of the diaphragm itself. ^[2]

Some researchers still assert that such a diaphragm exists, ^[7] and the term is still used in the literature.^[8]

The term “urogenital diaphragm” is often confused with the pelvic floor, which is a true diaphragm supporting many of the pelvic organs.

• 
  Male Anatomy
• 
  Median sagittal section of pelvis, showing arrangement of fasciæ.
• 
  The deeper branches of the internal pudendal artery.

• Superficial perineal pouch

• Template:SUNYAnatomyLabs – “The Female Perineum: The Perineal Nerve”
• Template:SUNYAnatomyLabs – “The Female Perineum – The Deep Perineal Pouch”
• Template:SUNYAnatomyFigs – “The urinary bladder and the urethra as seen in a frontal section of the female pelvis.”
• Template:SUNYAnatomyLabs – “The Male Pelvis: The Prostate Gland”
• Template:NormanAnatomy (Template:NormanAnatomyFig)
• Template:DartmouthHumanAnatomy
• http://www.instantanatomy.net/abdomen/areas/perineum/mdeepperinealpouch.html

Template:Torso general

Template:WikiDoc Sources