Branching pattern of the femoral artery at the femoral triangle: a cadaver study

Abstract

Introduction: The proper knowledge of the course and ramification of the blood vessels of the lower limbs is very important for surgeons and interventional radiologist. This is because the lower limb arteries are commonly involve with peripheral occlusive arterial diseases and the femoral artery at the femoral triangle is widely used for certain clinical procedures like arterial catheterization. Although there are several studies on the branching pattern of the femoral artery in the femoral triangle the Sri Lankan studies are spars. Methodology and Materials: The branching pattern of the common femoral artery in the femoral triangle was studied during the educational dissection of human cadavers in the department of anatomy faculty of medicine Karapitiya.We used 26 femoral triangles in 13 cadavers. The pattern of origin of the profunda femoris artery and circumflex femoral arteries were studied. Results: The level of origin of the profunda femoris was varying from 30 to 70mm from the mid point of the inguinal ligament. Most of the time, the profunda artery on the left side tends to originate from a point proximal to the origin of the right profunda femoris artery. The lateral circumflex artery originated commonly from the femoral artery while the commonest site of origin of the medial circumflex arterial was the profunda artery. All these three arteries originated from a common trunk from the femoral artery in 2 out of 26 instances. Conclusion: The profunda femoris was originated commonly from the posterior surface of the common femoral artery. However, we encountered six out of 26 arteries starting from the lateral aspect of the femoral artery and this was not mention in text. The average distance of the origin of the profunda was 50mm from the mid point of the inguinal ligament. This is a slightly higher distance than reported in the literature. Twenty four out of 26 lateral circumflex arteries were started from the profunda femoris artery while the other two started from a common trunk from the femoral artery. We did not encounter instances where lateral circumflex arteries originated from the common femoral artery. However, 31% of medial circumflex femoral arteries originated from the common femoral artery even though in most of the instances the circumflex arteries originated from the profunda femoris artery which is comparable to the reports in the literature.   DOI: 10.4038/gmj.v14i1.1169   Galle Medical Journal Vol.14(1) 2009 31-34