Skip to content
EasyAnatomyLab
Menu

Suspensory ligament of ovary: anatomy, location and function

The suspensory ligament is a peritoneal fold that runs from the ovary to the side wall of the pelvis. It carries the ovarian artery, vein, lymphatics and nerves.

Loading 3D model…
Skin0%
Muscles100%

Structures

Loading… Click the model or search.

Highlighted in the model: Suspensory ligament of ovary. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The female body shares the male skeleton, muscles and organs except its pelvis, reproductive organs, breasts, bladder, urethra and skin.

Suspensory ligament of ovary at a glance

Also called
Infundibulopelvic ligament
What it is
The suspensory ligament is a peritoneal fold that runs from the ovary to the side wall of the pelvis.
Location
It joins the upper pole of the ovary to the lateral pelvic wall, over the external iliac vessels.
Function
It carries the ovarian artery, vein, lymphatics and nerves.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA19824 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Lymph from the ovary drains along it to the para-aortic lymph nodes.
  • The ureter runs close beneath it at the pelvic brim.

Clinical relevance

The ureter can be injured when this ligament is clamped to remove an ovary.

Structures next to the suspensory ligament of ovary

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Suspensory ligament of ovary (FMA19824). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §27.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Ovarian Reproductive System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  4. Browne K., Schlehlein H. 3D Reference Organ Set for United, Female (Visible Human Female). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. Data from the NLM Visible Human Project. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.