Bladder – An organ that’s a sack and usually hollowed out that fills up with a liquid byproduct of the body’s processes called urine so it can be eventually released.
Pelvis – A bodily structure below the abdomen that is held in place by the hip bones.
Rectum – The end tip of the large intestines that communicates with the sigmoid colon above and the anus below.
Uterus – An organ in the reproductive system of females where the fetus is grown that is muscular and pelvic.
Urethra – The tube leading from the bladder through the oriface in the vagina in females and penis in males, which carries urine out to be discharged.
Prostate – A male reproductive system gland that is located below the bladder and envelops the urethra partially, and is also the canal that empties the bladder and produces a fluid that is partially the composition of semen.
The bladder is the sac where urine is gathered inside the body. One alternative medical terminology for the bladder is the word “vesical”, which has it’s roots in the Latin word “vesicular”. The pelvis is the location of the bladder. The sac of the bladder itself is soft and round. The rectum in men or uterus for women is located behind the bladder. Urine is collected into the bladder through an opening in each end of the bladder. Urine is kept inside the bladder until the person it belongs to feels the need to urinate. The urine is pushed out of the urethra when the muscles in the bladder walls squeeze the urine out. In women the urethra is short, about 1 inch. In men it’s significantly longer as it needs to pass through the prostate and then the penis in order to get to the tip of the penis where it widens and opens up.
The kidneys are located in the center of the abdomen, underneath the lower ribcage. The purpose of the kidneys is to act as a filtration system for the blood in order to convert some of it to urine. The urine produced by the kidneys then travels through the renal pelvis and into the ureters. The urethra are a tubular contraption that are soft to the touch and have a similar circumference to a pencil. The purpose of the urethra is to allow urine to flow from the kidneys into the base of the bladder, where they protrude and connect.
The capacity of the adult bladder is 400 ml of urine. The bladder wall consists of three layers: the urothelium is the interior layer that is touching the urine, the central layer is made up of muscle fibers that contract to squeeze urine out by upping the pressure on the inside of the bladder in order to get the urine to flow out, and the exterior layer is a thin, protective layer named the serosa that is meant to prevent the sac from bursting.