The corona mortis is an anatomical variation related to the anastomosis between the internal and external iliac blood vessels, through certain arteries and veins that form arches above and behind the superior pubic ramous. Serious hemorrhages can result from iatrogenic injury of these vessels. The study objective was to characterize the obturator vessels in a sample of Colombian cadavers, to determine their morphometric features and the frequencies in which the arterial and venous patterns are present. Hemipelvises of 14 cadavers from the dissection room of the Department of Morphology at the Universidad del Valle, in Cali, Colombia, were taken as sample. Once the dissection of the vessels related with the obturator canal and the pelvic surface of the superior pubic ramous was completed, their morphological features were determined and measurements were taken of their diameters and lengths. The arterial variations, corona mortis and aberrant obturator artery, were present in 35.7% of the hemipelvises and the venous variations in 82.1%. The corona mortis artery was only present in 3.6% of the hemipelvises and 32.1% presented an aberrant obturator artery. The mode of the absolute frequencies of the venous patterns was the corona mortis vein, present in 75.0% of the hemipelvises. The knowledge of the arterial and venous patterns of the obturator vessels and their anatomical variations for the Colombian population is very important in order to avoid causing any injury to them in the course of clinical and surgical procedures that have to do with the anterior pelvic ring and the inguinal region.

KEY WORDS: Anatomic variation; Iatrogenic disease; Bleeding; Abdominal hernia; Bone fractures; Iliac artery; Iliac vein; Epigastric arteries; Pelvic bones; Pubic bone.