| Dartos fascia | |
|---|---|
 The scrotum. (Label for dartos is at bottom left.) | |
 The scrotum. (Label for dartos is at bottom left.) | |
| Details | |
| Origin | Subcutaneous tissue of scrotum, superficial to superficial fascia (Colles) |
| Insertion | Skin and midline raphe of scrotum |
| Nerve | Genital branch of genitofemoral nerve |
| Actions | Corrugates the scrotum |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | tunica dartos |
| TA98 | A09.4.03.003 |
| TA2 | 3695 |
| FMA | 18088 |
| Anatomical terms of muscle | |
The dartos fascia, dartos tunic or simply dartos is a layer of connective tissue found in the penile shaft, foreskin and scrotum.[1] The penile portion is referred to as the superficial fascia of penis or the subcutaneous tissue of penis,[2] 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.[1]
The dartos 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.[3] The tone of this smooth muscle is responsible for the wrinkled (rugose) appearance of the scrotum.[1] In females, the same muscle fibers are less well developed and termed dartos muliebris, lying beneath the skin of the labia majora. The dartos fascia receives innervation from postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers arriving via the ilioinguinal nerve and the posterior scrotal nerve.
- ^ a b c Campbell (25 August 2011). Alan J. Wein (ed.). Campbell-Walsh Urology. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders. ISBN 978-1-4160-6911-9.
- ^ TA A09.4.01.027
- ^ Gray's 16th Edition