Dartos: Difference between revisions

  |data10      = [[Artery of Duffy]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

  |data12      = [[Genital branch of genitofemoral nerve]]

}}</ref> The penile portion is referred to as the '''superficial fascia of penis''' or the '''subcutaneous tissue of penis''',<ref>[http://www.unifr.ch/ifaa/Public/EntryPage/TA98%20Tree/Entity%20TA98%20EN/09.4.01.027%20Entity%20TA98%20EN.htm Terminologica Anatomica 98]</ref> while the scrotal part is the dartos proper. In addition to being continuous with itself between the scrotum and the penis, it is also continuous with Colles fascia of the perineum and Scarpa's fascia of the abdomen.<ref name=Campbell10 />

In the scrotum, it consists mostly of smooth muscle.<ref>Gray's 16th Edition</ref> The tone of this smooth muscle is responsible for the wrinkled (rugose) appearance of the scrotum.<ref name=Campbell10 />

In the penis, the loose attachment of the dartos fascia to [[Buck's fascia]] is responsible for the high degree of mobility of the penile [[skin]] over the underlying tissue.<ref name=Campbell10 /> It is also responsible for carrying the blood supply of the penile [[skin]], a longitudinally-coursing anastomotic network of vessels that arise from the external pudendal vessels.<ref name=Campbell10 />

}}</ref> In infancy, the dartos fascia operates as a one-way check valve at the tip of the foreskin, allowing [[urine]] to pass out, but prohibiting the entry of foreign matter and pathogens.<ref>{{REFjournal

  |quote=The sphincter action of the preputial orifice functions like a one way valve, blocking the entry of contaminants while allowing the passage of [[urine]].