Dorsal artery of the penis

Last revised by Daniel J Bell ◉ on 3 May 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Zhou E, Bell D, Skalina T, et al. Dorsal artery of the penis. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 23 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-93431

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-93431

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/93431?embed_domain=staging.radpair.com

rID:

93431

Article created:

22 Sep 2021, Edward Zhou

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Edward Zhou had no recorded disclosures.

View Edward Zhou's current disclosures

Last revised:

3 May 2022, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

5 times, by 4 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular, Urogenital

Sections:

Anatomy

Synonyms:

Dorsal arteries of the penis

The dorsal artery of the penis is one of the two terminal branches of the internal pudendal artery.

Gross anatomy

Origin

The internal pudendal artery bifurcates into the deep artery of the penis and the dorsal artery of the penis at the anterior margin of the perineal membrane ¹.

Termination

the dorsal artery of the penis pierces the perineal membrane before coursing between the crura of the penis and the pubic symphysis to pierce the suspensory ligament of the penis
it courses towards the glans penis in the plane between the deep fascia and the fibrous sheaths of the corpora cavernosa
lies between the deep dorsal vein of the penis medially and the dorsal nerves laterally. The neurovascular bundle is adherent to the deep fascia of the penis ^1,3.

Anastomosis

forms an anastomosis with the terminal branches of the artery to the bulb of the penis at the level of the glans penis ^1,3
forms an anastomosis with the superficial penile arteries (branches of the external pudendal artery that supply the superficial skin) at the level of the coronal sulcus ²

Supply

glans penis
skin of the penis
corpus spongiosum (via anastomosis to the artery to the bulb)
some contribution to the penile urethra (via anastomosis to the artery to the bulb) ^1,3

Variant anatomy

a common penile artery, serving as the common origin of this artery, the deep artery of the penis and the artery to the bulb has been described ²

References

Incoming Links

Promoted articles (advertising)

Updating… Please wait.

Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

Thank you for updating your details.

Dorsal artery of the penis