The inguinal canal is a kind of gap located in the lower abdominal wall, namely above the inguinal ligament. In men, it contains the spermatic cord, while in women it has a round ligament in the uterus. The direction of the channel is certainly oblique. Above the pubic bone, namely over its upper branch, there is a superficial groin ring. A little lower - the inguinal ring is deep. And between them the inguinal canal is located obliquely laterally.
The inguinal canal, the anatomy of which is quite complex, has the following walls: anterior (aponeurosis of the oblique external muscle of the abdomen) and posterior (transverse fascia of the abdomen), as well as the lower (groove of the inguinal ligament) and upper (lower edge of the oblique internal muscle and lower edge of the transverse abdominal muscle )
The inguinal canal does not exceed five centimeters in length. In the abdominal cavity near this canal there is an internal inguinal ring (deep) located above the inguinal ligament at a distance of two centimeters from about the middle of this ligament. In that place, namely in a kind of gap where the fibers of the external oblique muscle of the abdominal cavity diverge, there is a superficial inguinal ring. It is called so because it is located above the inguinal ligament, or rather, above its medial part.
The slightly tucked edge of the aponeurosis of the oblique external muscle of the abdominal cavity is the inguinal ligament, which serves as the connective tissue for the oblique abdominal muscle and the transverse fascia of the abdomen. It is she who forms the lower channel wall.
The aponeurosis of the external oblique muscle, which very often limits the front wall, is not a compact plate at all, but a mesh one. But the upper wall is formed by several lower edges of the transverse and internal oblique muscles of the abdominal cavity.
Starting from the lower edge of the oblique internal muscle, a minor muscle bundle is formed in men that forms such a muscle as the testis lifter. It reaches the testicle itself, leaving the inguinal canal through the existing external opening. The back wall, which is formed using the transverse fascia of the abdominal cavity, fuses with the inguinal ligament, not even with the ligament itself, but with its posterior edge.
The superficial groin ring, located above the inguinal ligament, is an oval hole and is quite limited due to the divergence of the tendon into two legs: lateral and medial. The first of them grew to the pubic tubercle, and the second to the symphysis, with the left located in front of the right. This means that the farther it is from the symphysis, the inguinal canal (its opening) will be wider.
Only due to this symptom is it possible to determine a predisposition to the occurrence and development of inguinal hernias. Of course, this is pretty easy to determine with x-rays. On the lateral side, the gap is reinforced with fibers that connect the tissue between the legs of the inguinal ring.
A hole that does not have any deviations from the norm should allow the passage of the tip of the little finger. With larger sizes, it is assessed as extended. This hole is easily enough examined through inspection. If the little finger (its tip) protrudes the skin of the scrotum upward, and then laterally, then it is quite possible to feel the entrance directly into the inguinal canal, the walls of which are always in good shape in a normal healthy state.
The deep groin ring is slightly higher from the middle of the inguinal ligament by about 1 centimeter. It looks like a free hole, because it contains the intravaginal transverse fascia of the abdomen. It is located around either the spermatic cord (in men), or around the round ligament of the uterus (in women).
It is through this channel when a congenital inguinal hernia (oblique) occurs, all its contents fall into the scrotum, which leads to undesirable consequences.