Rectouterine pouch

Rectouterine pouch
An extension of the peritoneal cavity between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. The term "cul-de-sac," aside from being any "blind pouch or cavity that is closed at one end," is used specifically to refer to the rectouterine pouch. From that fact comes: Culdoscopy, the introduction of an endoscope through the vagina into the cul-de-sac; Culdoscope, the endoscope that is used to look into the cul-de-sac; and Culdocentesis, the aspiration (withdrawal) of fluid from the cul-de-sac. In French, "cul-de-sac" literally is "bottom of (a)sack." As early as the 13th century, a cul-de-sac was a dead-end street (or a dead-end way), a blind alley. (The third letter in "cul" is silent in French; in English it is spoken. So, in French "cul" is pronounced "ku" and in English "kul"). The rectouterine pouch is also known as excavatio recto-uterina (literally, the rectouterine excavation) and the pouch of Douglas, after the Scottish anatomist James Douglas (1675-1742) who explored this region of the female body and left his name attached to at least 3 other structural features in the area.

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rec·to·uter·ine pouch .rek-tō-'yu̇t-ə-.rīn-, -rən- n a sac between the rectum and the uterus that is formed by a folding of the peritoneum compare RECTOVESICAL POUCH

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rectovaginal pouch excavatio rectouterina.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Rectouterine pouch — Infobox Anatomy Name = PAGENAME Latin = excavatio rectouterina, cavum douglassi, fossa douglasi GraySubject = 246 GrayPage = 1152 Caption = Sagittal section of the lower part of a female trunk, right segment. (Pouch of Douglas labeled at bottom… …   Wikipedia

  • Pouch, rectouterine — An extension of the peritoneal cavity between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. The term cul de sac, aside from being any blind pouch or cavity that is closed at one end, is used specifically to refer to the rectouterine pouch. From that… …   Medical dictionary

  • Pouch of Douglas — An extension of the peritoneal cavity between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. The term cul de sac, aside from being any blind pouch or cavity that is closed at one end, is used specifically to refer to the rectouterine pouch. From that… …   Medical dictionary

  • pouch — A pocket or cul de sac. SEE ALSO: fossa, recess, sac. antral p. a p. made in the antrum of the stomach of experimental animals. branchial pouches SYN: pharyngeal pouches. Broca p. SYN: puden …   Medical dictionary

  • Recto-uterine pouch — Sagittal section of the lower part of a female trunk, right segment. (Excavatio recto uterina labeled at bottom right.) …   Wikipedia

  • Douglas, pouch of — An extension of the peritoneal cavity between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. The term cul de sac, aside from being any blind pouch or cavity that is closed at one end, is used specifically to refer to the rectouterine pouch. From that… …   Medical dictionary

  • rectovesical pouch — n a sac between the rectum and the urinary bladder in males that is formed by a folding of the peritoneum compare RECTOUTERINE POUCH * * * excavatio rectovesicalis …   Medical dictionary

  • ICD-9-CM Volume 3 — is a system of procedural codes. It is a subset of ICD 9 CM (volumes 1 and 2 are used for diagnostic codes.) The United States National Center for Health Statistics drafted ICD 10 PCS in 2000 as a potential replacement for ICD 9 CM Volume 3, but… …   Wikipedia

  • Cul-de-sac — A viewer writes regarding the term cul de sac : I know we live on one. Is there a medical meaning for it? The answer is of course: Yes (or you d not be reading this here). An anatomic cul de sac is a blind pouch or cavity that is closed at one… …   Medical dictionary

  • Culdocentesis — The puncture and aspiration (withdrawal) of fluid from the cul de sac, the rectouterine pouch (the pouch of Douglas), an extension of the peritoneal cavity between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. The word culdocentesis is derived from cul …   Medical dictionary

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