ABSTRACT
Knowledge of anatomy is essential to perform safe and effective surgery. This chapter aims to present anatomy in a format that is directly relevant to laparoscopic surgery. The safe insertion of laparoscopic ports requires knowledge of the vasculature of the anterior abdominal wall and the great vessels. If pneumoperitoneum is created using a Veress needle, it is commonly introduced at the umbilicus. Brill et al. demonstrated that previous surgery increases the incidence of adhesions of the omentum or bowel to the anterior vaginal wall. The most important structures to identify prior to the insertion of lateral secondary ports are the inferior epigastric vessels. The origin of the inferior epigastric artery is from the external iliac artery just before it passes under the inguinal ligament. The presacral space begins at the aortic bifurcation and descends to the pelvic floor. The retropubic space is a potential space that lies behind the symphysis pubis and in front of the bladder.
