= Pudendal nerve
The <pudendal nerve> is a mixed <nerve> of the <sacral plexus>, usually receiving fibers associated with S2–S4 <spinal nerves>. It carries sensory information from much of the <perineum> and motor signals to <skeletal muscles> involved in continence, including the <external anal sphincter> and <external urethral sphincter>. Its route includes the <pudendal canal>.
A description of <anatomy> is a pattern with variation, not a guarantee that every individual has identical branching. Dissection of 28 cadavers documented additional branches and interconnections near the <external anal sphincter> in some specimens.<Anatomy of the pudendal nerve and its terminal branches: a cadaver study by Steven E. Schraffordt and others>[ANZ Journal of Surgery 74, pp. 23–26; observed branching and interconnecting nerve plexuses]{ref} The study also illustrates the difference between a <skeletal muscle> being structurally intact and its <nerve> supply being intact: coordinated contraction depends on both the <skeletal muscle> and the arriving motor signals.
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