Anatomy of the urinary bladder, prostate and male urethra

The surgical trainee requires a competent knowledge of the relations of the bladder and prostate, their blood supply, lymphatic drainage and autonomic innervation. The bladder is intrapelvic in the adult and extends above the pubis only when pathologically distended. In the child, the bladder neck is level with the upper symphysis pubis. The internal appearance of the bladder at cystoscopy is important. In health, the prostate is pyramidal and is the size and shape of a chestnut. It is traversed by the prostatic part of the urethra and by the ejaculatory ducts, which divide the small median lobe from the rest of the gland. Its venous drainage passes to the vertebral venous veins (Bateson's). The male urethra is divided into prostatic, membraneous and spongy, or penile parts. It is narrowest at its termination.