Pubococcygeus muscle

Origin: Back of the pubis and from the anterior part of the obturator fascia

Insertion: Coccyx and sacrum

Nerve: Levator ani nerve (S4) - inferior rectal nerve from pudendal nerve (S3, S4) - coccygeal plexus

Action: Controls urine flow and contracts during orgasm

Description: The Pubococcygeus is a part of the levator ani that arises from the back of the pubis and from the anterior part of the obturator fascia, and is directed backward almost horizontally along the side of the anal canal toward the coccyx and sacrum, to which it finds attachment. Between the termination of the vertebral column and the anus, the two Pubococcygei muscles come together and form a thick, fibromuscular layer lying on the raphé formed by the Iliococcygei. The greater part of this muscle is inserted into the coccyx and into the last one or two pieces of the sacrum.

In the Terminologia Anatomica 1, the Pubococcygeus muscle included these muscles:

• Puboperinealis

• Pubovaginalis in female or Puboprostaticus (Levator prostatae) in male

• Puboanalis: the name of this muscle have been replaced by the puborectalis muscle in the Terminologia Anatomica 2, that was a separate entry in TA1

But this classification has been abandoned in the TA2, which is very confusing