[The anatomy of erection]

Abstract

The authors review the current knowledge concerning the anatomy of erection. The nervi erigentes pass through the hypogastric plexus, travel along the cavernous nerve and terminate in the smooth muscle of the erectile bodies. There appears to be three types of nerves: adrenergic nerves, cholinergic nerves and non-adrenergic, noncholinergic nerves. The arterial blood supply is derived from branches of the internal pudendal artery. The venous drainage occurs via the circumflex veins towards the deep dorsal vein of the penis. The corpus cavernosum is composed of a thick, extensible albuginea which contains an extensible vascular network surrounded by smooth muscle tissue, which, when it contracts, appears to induce detumescence and, when it relaxes, appears to allow inflow of blood into the erectile bodies.