right lateral wall of urinary bladder

The right lateral wall of the urinary bladder is the right-sided lateral wall of the bladder, forming the right flank of the bladder and facing the right side of the pelvis, where it is adjacent to the right pelvic sidewall structures.

The right lateral wall of the urinary bladder is adjacent to the right obturator internus muscle and fascia, the right obturator nerve and vessels, the right ureter as it approaches the bladder, and the right seminal vesicle in males. The right umbilical artery (medial umbilical ligament) also runs along the right lateral surface.

The right ureter approaches the posterolateral bladder wall obliquely, running through the bladder wall in an intramural segment before opening at the right ureteral orifice. It passes medial to the right internal iliac artery and close to the right lateral bladder wall, which is surgically significant during pelvic dissection and ureteral reimplantation.

The right lateral wall of the urinary bladder drains primarily into the right external iliac, right internal iliac (hypogastric), and right obturator lymph nodes. This lymphatic drainage is important in staging and surgical treatment of bladder cancer, where pelvic lymph node dissection on the right side specifically addresses nodes along these chains.

Asymmetric thickening or indentation of one lateral wall may indicate extrinsic compression from a pelvic mass, lymphadenopathy, or tumor involvement. Cystoscopy and CT cystography are used to evaluate lateral wall lesions. Differentiating right from left lateral wall tumors affects the choice of ureteral stenting and surgical approach during cystectomy.