Urethral sphincters

Common card · No. 301858

The urethral sphincters are two muscles used to control the exit of urine in the urinary bladder through the urethra. The two muscles are either the male or female external urethral sphincter and the internal urethral sphincter. When either of these muscles contracts, the urethra is sealed shut. The external urethral sphincter originates at the ischiopubic ramus and inserts into the intermeshing muscle fibers from the other side. It is controlled by the deep perineal branch of the pudendal nerve. Activity in the nerve fibers constricts the urethra. The internal sphincter muscle of urethra: located at the bladder's inferior end and the urethra's proximal end at the junction of the urethra with the urinary bladder. The internal sphincter is a continuation of the detrusor muscle and is made of smooth muscle, therefore it is under involuntary or autonomic control. This is the primary muscle for prohibiting urination. The female or male external sphincter muscle of urethra (sphincter urethrae...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Mcstrother, CC BY 3.0