Histotopography of the female cavernous nerve: a study using donated fetuses and adult cadavers

The purpose of this study was to identify the histotopography of the female cavernous nerve. The study used semi-serial horizontal sections of seven fetuses and ten adult cadavers. In fetuses, the female cavernous nerve ran anteriorly between the distal vagina and the levator ani and entered the corpus cavernosum clitoridis. Its course through the argental hiatus was similar to that of the male cavernous nerve. However, the fascial arrangement along the female cavernous nerve was different from that of the three male fetuses included in this study. In female adults, the putative cavernous nerve was found running along the lateral aspect of the rhabdosphincter, along the superior surface of the urethrovaginal sphincter and around the lateral end of the latter sphincter. Because the female cavernous nerve and lateral vaginal wall are closely related, surgical treatment along the mid- and distal urethra should be conducted cautiously so as not to injure the perivaginal autonomic nerves.