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Dartos
,Wikify.
|data8 = [[Skin]] and midline raphé of [[scrotum]]
|header9 = Blood
|data10 = [[Artery of Duffy]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}
|header11 = Nerve
|data12 = [[Genital branch of genitofemoral nerve]]
|header13 = Action
|data14 = Corrugates the scrotum
|accessdate=
|note=
}}</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 />
It lies just below the [[skin]], which places it just superficial to the external spermatic fascia in the scrotum and to Buck's fascia in the penile shaft.
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 />
It receives innervation from postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers arriving via the ilioinguinal nerve and the posterior scrotal nerve.
==Function==
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 [[penile skin]] over the underlying tissue.<ref name=Campbell10 /> It is also responsible for carrying the blood supply of the penile [[penile skin]], a longitudinally-coursing anastomotic network of vessels that arise from the external pudendal vessels.<ref name=Campbell10 />
In the [[scrotum]], the tunica dartos acts to regulate the temperature of the testicles, which promotes spermatogenesis. It does this by expanding or contracting to wrinkle the [[scrotal skin]].
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-09-29
}}</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><!--{{FleissP HodgesF VanHoweRS 1998 |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]].}}-->{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|init=PM
|last3=Van Howe
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|title=Immunological functions of the human prepuce
|journal=Sex Trans Inf
|pages=364-367
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1758142/pdf/v074p00364.pdf
|quote=The sphincter action of the preputial orifice functions like a one way valve, blocking the entry of contaminants and pathogens while allowing the passage of [[urine]].
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
{{REF}}
[[Category:Genital]]
[[de:Dartos]]