Review Question - QID 108784

A 72-year-old male presents to a cardiac surgeon for evaluation of severe aortic stenosis. He has experienced worsening dyspnea with exertion over the past year. The patient also has a history of poorly controlled hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. An echocardiogram revealed a thickened calcified aortic valve. The surgeon is worried that the patient will be a poor candidate for open heart surgery and decides to perform a less invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement. In order to perform this procedure, the surgeon must first identify the femoral pulse just inferior to the inguinal ligament and insert a catheter into the vessel in order to gain access to the arterial system. Which of the following structures is immediately lateral to this structure?