The obturator artery is a department of the internal iliac artery that passes antero-inferiorly (forwards and downwards) on the lateral wall of the pelvis, to the top a part of the obturator foramen, and, escaping from the pelvic hollow space through the obturator canal, it divides into each an anterior and a posterior department.within the pelvic hollow space this vessel is in relation, laterally, with the obturator fascia; medially, with the ureter, ductus deferens, and peritoneum; while a bit under it is the obturator nerve.within the pelvis the obturator artery gives off iliac branches to the iliac fossa, which deliver the bone and the Iliacus, and anastomose with the ilio-lumbar artery; a vesical branch, which runs backward to deliver the bladder; and a pubic department, that is given off from the vessel simply earlier than it leaves the pelvic cavity. The pubic department ascends upon the again of the pubis, communicating with the corresponding vessel of the opposite side, and with the inferior epigastric artery.After passing through the obturator canal and outdoor of the pelvis, the obturator artery divides on the top margin of the obturator foramen, into an anterior branch and a posterior branch of the obturator artery which encircle the foramen beneath cover of the obturator externus.
