Table of Contents
Overview
Neurovasculature of the knee and leg (anterior and posterior view) On the left, you can see the posterior leg and popliteal fossa with the popliteal artery and genicular anastomosis supplying the knee joint and related structures. After giving off the anterior tibial artery, the popliteal artery continues as the posterior tibial artery. The part of this artery as far as the point where it gives off the fibular artery is sometimes referred to as the tibiofibular trunk. The tibial nerve, one of the terminal branches of the sciatic nerve, supplies the posterior compartment of the leg via several muscular branches. Moving to the anterior perspective, we can see the other terminal branch of the sciatic nerve, the common fibular nerve with its two branches, the superficial and deep fibular nerves. These supply the lateral and anterior compartments of the leg, respectively. The deep fibular nerve follows the anterior tibial artery after it passes through the oval aperture in the proximal part of the interosseous membrane, running medially to the neck of the fibula. In the region of the ankle joint, this artery gives anterior medial and lateral malleolar branches for the supply for the ankle joint.
Keypoints
| Arteries of the knee and leg |
Genicular anastomosis: Five genicular branches of popliteal artery (superior and inferior medial, superior and inferior lateral, middle genicular arteries) Anterior and posterior tibial recurrent arteries Descending branches of femoral and lateral circumflex arteries Circumflex fibular branch of posterior tibial artery Leg: Popliteal artery Anterior tibial artery Posterior tibial artery Fibular artery |
| Veins of the knee and leg | Popliteal vein Anterior tibial veins Posterior tibial veins Fibular veins Small saphenous vein Great saphenous vein |
| Nerves of the knee and leg |
Femoral nerve: Saphenous nerve Sciatic nerve: Tibial nerve Common fibular nerve (superficial and deep fibular nerves, lateral sural cutaneous nerve) Sural nerve (medial sural cutaneous nerve) |
| Muscular innervation |
Superficial fibular nerve: Fibularis longus, fibularis brevis muscle Deep fibular nerve: Tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, fibularis tertius, extensor hallucis longus Tibial nerve: Gastrocnemius, popliteus, soleus, plantaris, tibialis posterior, flexor digitorum longus, flexor hallucis longus |
| Cutaneous innervation |
Saphenous nerve: Anteromedial aspect of knee Lateral sural cutaneous nerve: Proximal posterolateral aspect of leg Superficial fibular nerve: Distal lateral aspect of leg Sural nerve: Posterior aspect of leg |
Atlas of Neurovasculature of the leg and knee
Popliteal artery (Arteria poplitea)
posterior view
Superior lateral genicular artery (Arteria superior lateralis genus)
anterior view
Superior medial genicular artery (Arteria superior medialis genus)
anterior view
Sural arteries (Arteriae surales)
posterior view
Inferior lateral genicular artery (Arteria inferior lateralis genus)
anterior view
Inferior medial genicular artery (Arteria inferior medialis genus)
anterior view
Anterior tibial artery (Arteria tibialis anterior)
anterior view
Anterior lateral malleolar artery (Arteria malleolaris anterior lateralis)
anterior view
Anterior medial malleolar artery (Arteria malleolaris anterior medialis)
anterior view
Posterior tibial artery (Arteria tibialis posterior)
posterior view
Tibiofibular trunk (Truncus tibiofibularis)
posterior view
Fibular artery (Arteria fibularis)
posterior view
Medial plantar artery (Arteria plantaris medialis)
inferior view
Lateral plantar artery (Arteria plantaris lateralis)
inferior view
Popliteal vein (Vena poplitea)
posterior view
Anterior tibial vein (Vena tibialis anterior)
anterior view
Posterior tibial vein (Vena tibialis posterior)
medial view
Small saphenous vein (Vena saphena parva)
anterior view
Saphenous nerve (Nervus saphenus)
anterior view
Tibial nerve (Nervus tibialis)
posterior view
Sural nerve (Nervus suralis)
posterior view
Common fibular nerve (Nervus fibularis communis)
posterior view
Superficial fibular nerve (Nervus fibularis superficialis)
anterior view
Deep fibular nerve (Nervus fibularis profundus)
anterior view
Reference
- https://kenhub.com
