Download Lower Extremity Arteries

Gross Anatomy Coloring Book Series
Lower Extremity
Arteries
1
Femoral Artery and
Associated Branches
“For the life of the flesh is in
the blood.”
– Leviticus 17:11
Femoral Artery and Associated Branches
After passing under the inguinal ligament,
through the adductor hiatus and becomes
the external iliac artery becomes the femo-
the popliteal artery. We will examine this ar-
ral artery. All of the blood responsible for
tery in the next section. The remaining
nourishing the cells of the lower extremity
branches divide and anastomose to pro-
passes through this large arterial structure.
vide collateral blood flow to the proximal
Although large in diameter, the femoral ar-
femoral region and thigh.
tery is relatively short. It quickly branches
into 4 arterial structures near the lesser trochanter of the femur. One of these
Please see the femoral artery structure list
on the following page:
branches, the superficial femoral artery,
continues distally along the medial border
of the femur, where it dives posteriorly
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Femoral a. Structure List:
1. Femoral a.
a. Medial femoral circumflex a.
b. Lateral femoral circumflex a.
d. Superficial femoral a.
i. descending genicular a.
ii. popliteal a. (continuation of superficial femoral artery)
i. ascending br.
ii. transverse br.
iii. descending br.
c. Deep femoral a. (profunda femoris a.)
i. muscular branches (not shown)
ii. perforating branches
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2
Popliteal Artery and
Associated Branches
“Blood, toil, sweat and tears
always were a good mixture”
– Max Perutz
Popliteal Artery and Associated Branches
After passing through the adductor hiatus,
gives rise to the three major arteries of the
the superficial femoral artery changes
lower leg.
names and becomes the popliteal artery.
You can rest easy in the assumption that
the popliteal artery is visible from a posterior view only, while the superficial femoral
artery is visible from an anterior view only.
This is assuming that the adductor magnus remains intact.
The popliteal artery not only gives rise to
several genicular arteries, providing collateral circulation to the knee, but it also
You will find that in many texts structures
located near the fibula are designated using the term peroneal. In this text we will
be using the more accurate term, fibular.
Keep in mind then, that a structure such
as the fibular artery, may often be referred
to as the peroneal artery in older texts.
Please see the structure list on the following page:
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Popliteal a. Structure List
1. Popliteal a.
a. Superior medial genicular a.
b. Superior lateral genicular a.
Although not shown in this illustration,
many anastomoses occur between the
genicular arteries anterior to the knee. This
provides for continuous blood flow to the
knee region regardless of knee position. After giving rise to the genicular arteries, the
popliteal artery quickly divides and gives
c. Inferior medial genicular a.
d. Inferior lateral genicular a.
rise to three major arteries of the lower leg:
the anterior tibial artery, tibial artery, and
fibular artery.
e. Anterior tibial a.
f. Tibial a.
g. Fibular (peroneal) a.
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3
Dorsal Arteries of the
Foot
“Generations to come, it may well be, will
scarce believe that such a man as this
one ever in flesh and blood walked upon
this Earth.”
– Albert Einstein
Dorsal Arteries of the Foot
After passing between the tibia and fibula,
rum longus tendons. If you look between
the anterior tibial artery travels distally
these two tendons you will find the dor-
along the anterior border of the tibia. As it
salis pedis artery.
approaches the talocrural (ankle) joint it
gives rise to a medial and lateral malleolar
artery named for the medial and lateral mal-
Clinically this structure serves as a location
to take an important pulse reading. This
leoli respectively.
pulse is known as the pedal pulse and is
After the malleolar arteries depart from the
tory disorders often relating to Diabetes
ant. tibial artery, a name change occurs.
Mellitus.
The ant. tibial a. becomes the dorsalis pedis artery. When trying to identify this arterial structure on your cadaver, find the extensor hallucis longus and extensor digito-
important in many lower extremity circula-
From here the arteries of the foot branch
extensively. Please see the structure list on
the following page.
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Dorsal Arteries of the Foot Structure List:
1. Anterior tibial a.
2. Medial malleolar a.
3. Lateral malleolar a.
4. Dorsalis pedis a.
Keep in mind that this is not an all inclusive list of dorsal arteries of the foot. You
may find that there is some discrepancy in
the names used to identify certain arteries
not identified in the image above. This
structure list should be more than sufficient in most courses and clinical applica-
5. Lateral tarsal a.
tions however.
6. Arcuate a.
a. Dorsal metatarsal arteries
i. Dorsal digital arteries
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