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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 2 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 3 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: 5 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. 6 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. 8 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 9