Lateral circumflex femoral veins
Venae circumflexae femoris laterales
Paired veins in the upper front of the thigh that accompany the lateral circumflex femoral artery and drain the muscles around the hip.
At a glance
- English
- Lateral circumflex femoral veins
- Latin (TA2)
- Venae circumflexae femoris laterales
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Lower limb
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the lateral circumflex femoral veins
The lateral circumflex femoral veins are the companion veins (venae comitantes) that travel with the lateral circumflex femoral artery. They are usually two small veins that lie on either side of the artery and follow it closely, linked by short cross-channels across it. Their course is the artery's course: they run laterally from the region of the femoral triangle, passing between the branches of the femoral nerve and behind sartorius and rectus femoris.
As the artery divides into ascending, transverse and descending branches, each branch has its own companion veins, and these converge on the main trunk. The ascending veins come up from beneath tensor fasciae latae, near the front of the greater trochanter. The transverse ones come from the upper part of vastus lateralis around the femur. The descending veins are the longest; they climb from the lower thigh along the front of vastus lateralis, beneath rectus femoris.
The trunk ends medially by joining the deep femoral vein or, often, the femoral vein directly. Through this route blood from much of the quadriceps, from tensor fasciae latae and from the lateral side of the hip returns to the main venous channel of the thigh. Small links with the gluteal veins and with veins near the knee mirror the arterial anastomoses around the hip and knee.
The descending branch and its veins are the vascular pedicle of the anterolateral thigh flap, one of the most used free flaps in reconstructive surgery. Surgeons rely on these veins, not only the artery, to carry blood out of the transplanted tissue, so their size and number are checked when the flap is raised.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begin as companion veins of the ascending, transverse and descending branches of the parent artery, in the muscles of the upper lateral thigh and hip.
- Drains into
- End in the deep femoral vein or directly in the femoral vein.
- Drains
- Drain the quadriceps, especially vastus lateralis and rectus femoris, tensor fasciae latae and the lateral hip region.
Anthromica
See the lateral circumflex femoral veins 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.
