• 1.If the abdomen has not been dissected, make a horizontal incision through the entire thickness of the

superficial fascia of the anterior abdominal wall from the anterior superior iliac spine to the midline.

• 2. Raise the superficial fascia inferior to the cut, and pass the fingers downwards between the membranous layer of the fascia and the underlying aponeurosis of the external oblique muscle.
• 3. Appreciate that little resistance is felt to the passage of the fingers, till the line of fusion of the membranous layer with the deep fascia of the thigh is reached at the fold of the groin.
• 4. Note that the fingers cannot be carried into the thigh because of this line of fusion.
• 5. Pass the fingers medially along this line, and find the opening into the perineum, just medial to the pubic tubercle. Note that a finger can easily be passed into the perineum.
• 6. In the male, the finger passes beside the spermatic cord towards the scrotum; in the female, it passes into the base of the labium majus.
• 7. Revert back to the dissection of the lower limb. Find the long saphenous vein in the superficial fascia of the medial part of the anterior surface of the thigh. Trace the vein downwards to the knee and upwards to the point where it turns sharply backwards through the deep fascia to enter the femoral vein.
• 8. As the upper part is exposed, note the lower group of superficial inguinal lymph nodes scattered along the vein and the delicate, thread-like lymph vessels which enter them.
• 9. Three small veins enter the long saphenous vein at its upper end. Follow these and the small superficial.inguinal branches of the femoral artery. They pierce the deep fascia and supply the adjacent skin and lymph nodes. The superficial external pudendal vessels pass medially to the external genital organs; the superficial epigastric runs superiorly to the anterior abdominal wall, and the superficial circumflex iliac runs towards the lateral part of the groin [Fig. 13.8]. (When tracing these vessels, note the upper group of superficial inguinal lymph nodes which lie scattered along the lower border of the inguinal ligament. They vary greatly in number and size.)
• 10. Find the ilio-inguinal nerve just below the pubic tubercle. Trace its branches to the skin of the upper medial part of the thigh. It also sends branches to the external genital organs.
• 11. Lift the upper end of the long saphenous vein, and note that it turns backwards over a sharp edge of the deep fascia.
• 12. Follow this edge round the lateral side of the vein and upwards towards the inguinal ligament. This is the falciform margin of the saphenous opening. From this margin, the thin cribriform fascia passes in front of the opening and the femoral vessels in the femoral sheath.
• 13. Remove the cribriform fascia to expose the femoral sheath. Take care not to damage the structures which pierce the cribriform fascia or lie posterior to it.