🪴 GoDeep
Search
← University Challenge
Portrait of Femoral artery

Anatomy · Heart & blood vessels

Femoral artery

Main artery of the thigh

Lower limb · femoral triangle

The main artery of the lower limb above the knee. It begins as the continuation of the external iliac artery as it passes under the inguinal ligament, runs down the front of the thigh through the femoral triangle and the adductor canal, and becomes the popliteal artery at the adductor hiatus. Its pulse is felt at the mid-inguinal point, and it is the commonest access point for cardiac catheterisation.

How to spot them

  • ▸Enters the thigh under the inguinal ligament midway between the anterior superior iliac spine and the pubic symphysis
  • ▸In the femoral triangle, lies between the femoral nerve (lateral) and femoral vein (medial)
  • ▸Gives off the profunda femoris (deep femoral) artery about 3–4 cm below the ligament
  • ▸Leaves the triangle under sartorius through the adductor canal

What to know

Its pulse is felt at the mid-inguinal point, just below the inguinal ligament

Femoral artery — the femoral pulse.

In the femoral triangle it lies between the nerve, laterally, and the vein, medially

Femoral artery — the 'NAVEL' order, from lateral: nerve, artery, vein, empty space, lymphatics.

Gives off the profunda femoris, the main supply to the muscles of the thigh

Femoral artery — the deep femoral artery.

Continues from the external iliac artery at the inguinal ligament, and passes through the adductor hiatus to become the popliteal artery

Femoral artery.

Runs down through the adductor canal beneath sartorius, accompanied by the saphenous nerve

Femoral artery — the adductor (subsartorial) canal.

The usual access point for cardiac catheterisation and stenting, using the Seldinger technique

Femoral artery — a puncture at the femoral head is standard.

A stab or shot wound to the groin can cause fatal bleeding from this vessel, which can be compressed against the head of the thigh bone

Femoral artery — femoral artery injury.

Key ideas

  • Femoral sheath: the femoral artery and vein are enclosed in a funnel of fascia below the inguinal ligament; the femoral canal, medial to the vein, is the space through which a femoral hernia passes.
  • Sensible puncture site: over the femoral head, below the inguinal ligament, but above the bifurcation into superficial and deep branches.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Begins at the mid-inguinal point, where the external iliac artery passes under the inguinal ligament.
  • •The femoral triangle is bounded by the inguinal ligament, sartorius and adductor longus.
  • •Contents of the femoral triangle from lateral to medial: femoral nerve, femoral artery, femoral vein, femoral canal (mnemonic NAVEL).
  • •The profunda femoris (deep femoral) branches about 3–4 cm below the inguinal ligament and gives the circumflex femoral and perforating arteries.
  • •It becomes the popliteal artery at the adductor hiatus, in the adductor magnus.
  • •The femoral pulse is assessed for peripheral vascular disease and in shock and cardiac arrest.
  • •The common femoral artery is roughly 8–10 mm wide in adults.
  • •Femoral vein lies medial to the artery; the femoral nerve lies lateral and outside the sheath.

Drill it — 7 cards

1 / 7new card

Sources