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Vesico-uterine pouch: anatomy, location and function

The vesico-uterine pouch is the shallow peritoneal recess between the bladder and the uterus. It lets the bladder fill and the uterus move without pulling on each other.

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Highlighted in the model: Vesico-uterine pouch. 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.

Vesico-uterine pouch at a glance

Also called
Uterovesical pouch
What it is
The vesico-uterine pouch is the shallow peritoneal recess between the bladder and the uterus.
Location
It lies where the peritoneum passes from the upper surface of the bladder onto the front of the uterus, at about the level of the isthmus.
Function
It lets the bladder fill and the uterus move without pulling on each other.
Body system
Reproductive · single, midline structure · female body
FMA ID
FMA14729 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It is shallower than the rectouterine pouch (pouch of Douglas) behind the uterus.
  • The rectouterine pouch, the lowest point of the female peritoneal cavity, is not a separate part in this model.

Clinical relevance

In a caesarean section the peritoneum of this pouch is opened and the bladder pushed down before the lower uterine segment is incised.

Structures next to the vesico-uterine pouch

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Vesico-uterine pouch (FMA14729). 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.

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