The vaginal venous plexus is a group of veins draining

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

from the

vagina In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

. It lies around the sides of the vagina. Its blood eventually drains into the

internal iliac veins The internal iliac vein (hypogastric vein) begins near the upper part of the greater sciatic foramen, passes upward behind and slightly medial to the internal iliac artery and, at the brim of the pelvis, joins with the external iliac vein to fo ...

Structure

The vaginal venous plexus lies around the sides of the

. Its branches communicate with the

uterine venous plexus The uterine plexuses lie along the sides and superior angles of the uterus between the two layers of the broad ligament The broad ligament of the uterus is the wide fold of peritoneum that connects the sides of the uterus to the walls and floor o ...

es,

vesical venous plexus The vesical venous plexus is a venous plexus situated at the fundus of the urinary bladder. It collects venous blood from the urinary bladder in both sexes, from the accessory sex glands in males, and from the corpora cavernosa of clitoris in fem ...

, and

rectal venous plexus The rectal venous plexus (or hemorrhoidal plexus) is the venous plexus surrounding the rectum. It consists of an internal and an external rectal plexus. It is drained by the superior, middle, and inferior rectal veins. It forms a portosystemic (p ...

es. It is drained by the ''vaginal veins'', one on either side. These eventually drain into the

(hypogastric veins).

Function

The vaginal venous plexus drains

from the

. It helps to make the vagina highly vascular.

References

{{circulatory-stub Veins of the torso