The pudendal nerve is the main nerve of the perineum.
The term pudendal comes from Latin pudenda, meaning external genitals, derived from pudendum, meaning “parts to be ashamed of”.
The pudendal canal is also known by the eponymous term “Alcock's canal”, after Benjamin Alcock, an Irish anatomist who documented the canal in 1836. Alcock documented the existence of the canal and pudendal nerve in a contribution about iliac arteries in Robert Bentley Todd's “The Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology” 1).
It carries sensation from the external genitalia of both sexes and the skin around the anus and perineum, as well the motor supply to various pelvic muscles, including the male or female external urethral sphincter and the external anal sphincter. If damaged, most commonly by childbirth, lesions may cause sensory loss or fecal incontinence. The nerve may also be temporarily blocked as part of an anaesthetic procedure.
The pudendal canal is also known by the eponymous term “Alcock's canal”, after Benjamin Alcock, an Irish anatomist who documented the canal in 1836.
Laparoscopic implantation of neuromodulation electrodes allows simultaneous stimulation of S3 and pudendal nerves, providing more programming options and possibly increasing success rates in complex pelvic floor dysfunction cases 2).
Pudendal nerve afferents are a promising target to restore lost bladder control, as stimulation with different frequencies may be used to treat urinary incontinence and increase continent volumes or to generate stimulation-evoked bladder contractions for on-demand voiding. This work identified that co-stimulation of multiple afferent reflex pathways can enhance activation of spinal circuits and may enable improved bladder emptying in SCI when stimulation of a single pathway is not sufficient 3).