Descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery
Ramus descendens arteriae circumflexae lateralis femoris
The long downward branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, running behind rectus femoris on vastus lateralis towards the knee.
At a glance
- English
- Descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Ramus descendens arteriae circumflexae lateralis femoris
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Lower limb
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery
The lateral circumflex femoral artery, usually a branch of the deep femoral artery, splits near the front of the hip into ascending, transverse and descending branches. The descending branch is normally the largest of the three and the one that travels furthest, reaching the region of the knee.
After leaving its parent trunk, the branch turns downwards on the front and outer side of the thigh. It lies behind rectus femoris, in the groove between that muscle and vastus lateralis, and runs on the anterior surface of vastus lateralis, close to its border with vastus intermedius. The nerve to vastus lateralis, a branch of the femoral nerve, keeps it company, and the vessel is accompanied by paired veins.
Along the way it gives a series of muscular twigs into vastus lateralis and the neighbouring quadriceps heads, and also small skin perforators that pass through or round the muscle to the skin of the anterolateral thigh. One long branch continues within the muscle almost down to the knee, where it joins the superior lateral genicular artery, a branch of the popliteal artery. In this way it becomes part of the network of vessels round the knee and offers a channel between the femoral and popliteal territories.
This vessel has great practical importance in reconstructive surgery. It is the usual pedicle of the anterolateral thigh flap, in which a panel of skin and fat, with or without part of vastus lateralis, is lifted on its perforators and moved to the head, neck or limbs. Its length and calibre make it well suited to joining recipient vessels under the microscope.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Arises from the lateral circumflex femoral artery, alongside its ascending and transverse branches, near the front of the hip.
- Ends in
- Ends near the knee, where a long branch within vastus lateralis joins the superior lateral genicular artery.
- Supplies
- Supplies vastus lateralis and nearby parts of the quadriceps and, through perforators, the skin of the anterolateral thigh.
Anthromica
See the descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
