Question

Name the canal through which the testes descend into the scrotum just before birth in the human male child.

Answer 1

The inguinal canal is a narrow tube that runs through the inferior and medial parts of the abdominal wall. It is superior to the inguinal ligament and runs parallel to it. The canal connects the abdominal wall to the external genitalia and serves as a passageway for structures.

Complete answer:
The inguinal canals are two passageways in the anterior abdominal wall that carry the spermatic cords and the round ligament of the uterus in males and females, respectively. Males have larger and more pronounced inguinal canals. Each side of the midline has one inguinal canal.

Males and females have different structures that flow through the canals:
- The spermatic cord and its coverings, as well as the ilioinguinal nerve, in males.
- The ilioinguinal nerve + the round ligament of the uterus in females.

The tissue that will become gonads (testes or ovaries) establishes in the posterior abdominal wall and descends into the abdominal cavity during development. The gubernaculum is a fibrous cord of tissue that connects the inferior section of the gonad to the future scrotum or labia and directs them down.
The inguinal canal is the passage by which the testes leave the abdominal cavity and enter the scrotum in people with an XY karyotype. The canal is flanked by an out-pocketing of the peritoneum (processus vaginalis) and the abdominal musculature in the embryological stage.

Note: The spermatic cord (together with the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve) and the ilioinguinal nerve make up the contents of the inguinal canal in males. The round ligament, genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve, and the ilioinguinal nerve are all included in the contents for females.