Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Correspondence to: Nam Kyu Kim, M. The anorectum is a region with a very complex structure, and surgery for benign or malignant disease of the anorectum is impossible without accurate anatomical knowledge. The conjoined longitudinal muscle consists of smooth muscle from the longitudinal muscle of the rectum and the striate muscle from the levator ani and helps maintain continence; the rectourethralis muscle is connected directly to the conjoined longitudinal muscle at the top of the external anal sphincter.
Preserving the rectourethralis muscle without damage to the carvernous nerve or veins passing through it when the abdominoperineal resection is implemented is important. The mesorectal fascia is a multi-layered membrane that surrounds the mesorectum.
Because the autonomic nerves also pass between the mesorectal fascia and the parietal fascia, a sharp pelvic dissection must be made along the anatomic fascial plane.
With the development of pelvic structure anatomy, we can understand better how we can remove the tumor and the surrounding metastatic lymph nodes without damaging the neural structure. However, because the anorectal anatomy is not yet fully understood, we hope that additional studies of anatomy will enable anorectal surgery to be performed based on complete anatomical knowledge.
Keywords: Anorectum anatomy, Pelvic fascia, Pelvic plexus, Neurovascular bundles. Surgical procedures for both benign and malignant disease of the anorectum are known to be technically demanding procedures. As far as the field of anorectal surgery is concerned, not only the short-term outcome but also the long-term functional outcome is a very important issue, probably due to the complexity of the anorectal anatomy.
