Benjamin Alcock and the pudendal canal

J Reconstr Microsurg. 2011 Jul;27(6):349-54. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1278705. Epub 2011 May 27.

Abstract

The anatomy of the pudendal nerve is complex and difficult to visualize. Entrapment of the pudendal nerve is believed to occur in a canal, the pudendal canal or Alcock's canal, yet in the literature this term is used to refer to several different anatomic locations. We present a brief history of Benjamin Alcock, and we compare Alcock's original description of the pudendal canal with our findings from a cadaveric study. It is concluded that Alcock's canal for the pudendal nerve, as Alcock described it related to the pudendal artery, should be that portion of the pudendal nerve within the obturator internus fascia. This definition now permits future medical and surgical approaches to use the appropriate terminology for this anatomic location.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Cadaver
  • Dissection
  • History, 19th Century
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Nerve Compression Syndromes / history*
  • Nerve Compression Syndromes / surgery
  • Perineum / innervation
  • Perineum / surgery
  • Pudendal Nerve / anatomy & histology*
  • Pudendal Nerve / surgery

Personal name as subject

  • Benjamin Alcock