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| Testicular artery | |
|---|---|
 Theabdominal aorta and its branches (internal spermatic vessels labeled at right) | |
 Vertical section of thetestis, to show the arrangement of the ducts (internal spermatic artery labeled vertically at center) | |
| Details | |
| Source | Abdominal aorta |
| Vein | Testicular vein |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | arteria testicularis |
| TA98 | A12.2.12.086M |
| TA2 | 4288 |
| FMA | 14758 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Thetesticular artery (the malegonadal artery, also called theinternal spermatic arteries in older texts) is a branch of theabdominal aorta that supplies blood to thetesticle. It is a pairedartery, with one for each of the testicles.
It is the male equivalent of theovarian artery. Because the testis is found in a different location than that of its female equivalent, it has a different course than the ovarian artery.
They are two slender vessels of considerable length, and arise from the front of theaorta a little below therenal arteries.
Each passes obliquely downward and lateralward behind theperitoneum, resting on thepsoas major, the right lying in front of theinferior vena cava and behind themiddle colic andileocolic arteries and the terminal part of theileum, the left behind theleft colic andsigmoid arteries and theiliac colon.
Each crosses obliquely over the ureter and the lower part of the external iliac artery to reach theabdominal inguinal ring, through which it passes, and accompanies the other constituents of thespermatic cord along theinguinal canal to thescrotum, where it becomestortuous, and divides into several branches.
Two or three of these accompany theductus deferens, and supply theepididymis, anastomosing with the artery of the ductus deferens; others pierce the back part of thetunica albuginea, and supply the substance of the testicle.
The internal spermatic artery supplies one or two small branches to theureter, and in the inguinal canal gives one or two twigs to thecremaster.
The testicular artery may be damaged duringinguinal hernia repair, possibly resulting in insiduous testicular atrophy - but not necessarily accompanied by testicular necrosis due to collateral arterial supply via the inferior epigastric, prostatic, vesical, and scrotal arteries.[1]
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This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 611 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
