How many femoral arteries are there

The femoral artery is located in the thigh and is on the surface of the adductor magnus and longus muscles. One of the branches from the femoral nerve called the saphenous nerve may also be found next to lateral to the femoral artery.

The vastus medialis muscle, which is part of the quadriceps muscle group, is found to the front side of the femoral artery. The femoral artery branches off into an artery called the profunda femoris artery, otherwise known as the deep femoral artery or deep artery of the thigh. This branch travels deeper and closer to the femur and stays within the thigh area, while the femoral artery travels down to the lower legs. The two branches are joined back together at the gap of the adductor magnus muscle and the femur, which is called the adductor hiatus.

In addition to the profunda femoris artery, the femoral artery branches off into four other branches within the femoral triangle and another in the adductor canal, the middle third of the thigh that consists of the highest part of the femoral triangle to the adductor hiatus. The branches in the femoral triangle are the:. Each of these artery branches helps deliver blood to the surrounding muscle groups and skin in the leg and thigh areas.

The job of the femoral arteries is to deliver oxygenated blood from the heart to the legs and genitals. Once the blood has circulated through, the femoral vein brings the blood now needing oxygen back to the heart to circulate through the lungs before being pumped back out to the body through the iliac artery, and eventually the femoral artery and its smaller artery branches.

As the major artery of the leg, the femoral artery is an important part of the circulatory system. The femoral artery is often used as a catheter access artery.

This makes it possible for a surgeon to have a doorway to a large part of the circulatory system. The arteries are responsible for carrying blood away from the heart through the body, and being able to access them can be helpful when running tests that have to do with the function of the heart, brain, kidneys, and limbs.

In a certain specific medical situation, a physician may decide to draw blood from an artery instead of a vein. In this case, the femoral artery can serve as a draw point for blood collection. If the pulse is too weak, additional tests and diagnostics may be recommended. In some cases, a patient may have a femoral artery aneurysm, which is when one of the walls of the femoral artery balloons out, which often occurs due to plaque buildup around the artery wall.

In these cases, there's a danger of the aneurysm possibly bursting. A femoral artery blockage can also cause pain in the calf when walking. For some patients, a physician may recommend a procedure called a femoral-popliteal bypass, which uses a piece of a different blood vessel to help bypass the blocked portion of the femoral artery.

The femoral triangle is a description for a space in the upper-inner thigh that contains certain structures, including the femoral artery, femoral vein, femoral nerve, and femoral lymph nodes. The arteries located in the leg include the femoral artery, popliteal artery, anterior tibial artery, peroneal artery, and the posterior tibial artery.

The deep femoral artery is otherwise known as the profunda femoris artery, or the deep artery of the thigh.

It is the largest branch of the femoral artery and supplies the hip and upper leg area. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Coronary angiogram. February 22, Blood gases. Updated July 20, Jindeel A. Claudication: a teachable moment or missed opportunity! Clin Med Rev Case Rep.

Ruptured common femoral artery aneurysm or abdominal aortic aneurysm? Case Rep Surg. Jones, J. Femoral artery. Reference article, Radiopaedia. URL of Article. On this page:. Applied Radiological Anatomy.

Cambridge University Press. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 2. Last's anatomy, regional and applied. Churchill Livingstone. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 3. Clinically oriented anatomy. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 4. Duplication of the superficial femoral artery: comprehensive review of imaging literature and insight into embryology. Acta radiologica open.

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