Lateral vesical ligament

The lateral vesical ligament is a paired structure extending from the lateral aspect of the urinary bladder to the lateral wall of the pelvic cavity. It contains the patent umbilical artery in fetuses (which becomes the round ligament of the bladder in adults) and is composed of peritoneum enclosing connective tissue and vascular remnants.

It serves to support the bladder and conveys the obliterated umbilical arteries, which were functional in fetal circulation.

In humans, this structure is termed as lateral umbilical ligament (covered by the lateral umbilical fold of parietal peritoneum) but this terme is not appropriate for the quadrupeds because the lateral ligament does not approach the umbilic.