The vestibule of the vagina
Last reviewed: 31.05.2018
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The vestibule vestibule (vestibulum vaginae) is bounded laterally by the medial surfaces of the labia minora, at the bottom (behind) is the fossa of the vestibule, at the top (in front) is the clitoris. In the depth of the vestibule there is an unpaired opening of the vagina (ostium vaginae). On the threshold of the vagina, between the clitoris in front and the entrance to the vagina from behind, on the top of the small papilla opens the external opening of the urethra, as well as the ducts of the large and small pre-gland glands.
A large gland of the vestibule (Bartholin gland, glandula vestibularis major) is a paired, similar bulbourethral gland in men. Large glands of the vestibule are located on each side at the base of the labia minora, behind the bulb of the vestibule. They secrete a mucus-like fluid that moistens the walls of the entrance to the vagina. These are alveolar-tubular glands, oval, the size of a pea or beans. The ducts of the large glands of the vestibule open at the base of the labia minora.
Small pre-gland glands (glandulae vestibulares minores) are located in the thickness of the vestibular vestibule walls, where their ducts open.
Bulb vestibuli (bulbus vestibuli) for development and structure is identical to the unpaired spongy body of the male penis. It is horseshoe-shaped, with a thin middle part (between the outer opening of the urethra and the clitoris). The lateral parts of the bulb of the vestibule are slightly flattened and are located at the base of the labia majora, adjoining their posterior ends to the large glands of the vestibule. Outside, the onion bulb is covered with bundles of bulbous-spongy muscle. From the medial side, the bulb of the vestibule is at the entrance to the vagina. The bulb of the vestibule consists of a dense plexus of veins surrounded by connective tissue and bundles of smooth muscle cells.