prevesical space

Bounded anteriorly by the transversalis fascia and posteriorly by the umbilicovesical fascia, the prevesical space is an extraperitoneal compartment lying anterior and lateral to that fascia. Its communications define its extent. Laterally it is continuous with the properitoneal space of the abdominal wall and flanks; posteroinferiorly it surrounds the lateral walls of the urinary bladder; and anteroinferiorly it forms the retropubic space, long known as the space of Retzius. The compartment is therefore not a closed cavity but a fascial plane continuous with neighbouring extraperitoneal spaces, which is why its boundaries are described in terms of the fasciae that limit it rather than by a lining membrane.