Lateral plantar veins
Venae plantares latérales
Deep veins of the sole that accompany the lateral plantar artery and join the medial plantar veins behind the medial malleolus.
At a glance
- English
- Lateral plantar veins
- Latin (TA2)
- Venae plantares latérales
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the lateral plantar veins
The lateral plantar veins are deep veins of the foot that travel as paired companions (venae comitantes) beside the lateral plantar artery. They are the larger of the two sets of plantar veins and carry much of the blood returning from the deep tissues of the sole.
They begin in front from the deep plantar venous arch, which lies alongside the deep plantar arterial arch across the bases of the metatarsals. This venous arch collects the plantar metatarsal veins, which in turn receive the plantar digital veins from the toes. From the arch the lateral plantar veins run backwards and medially across the sole with the artery and the lateral plantar nerve. In this part of their course they lie in the plane between flexor digitorum brevis, which is superficial to them, and quadratus plantae, which lies deeper.
Near the heel they curve medially beneath abductor hallucis and reach the space behind the medial malleolus. Here they unite with the medial plantar veins to form the posterior tibial veins, which climb the back of the leg with the posterior tibial artery and eventually join the anterior tibial veins to form the popliteal vein behind the knee. On the way they receive tributaries from the muscles of the sole and from the heel.
The plantar veins have an important mechanical role. Each step compresses the sole and squeezes blood out of these veins into the posterior tibial veins, a process sometimes called the foot pump, which works together with the calf muscle pump to return blood from the leg. Their valves keep the flow moving upwards. Like other deep veins of the leg, they can be the starting point of a deep vein thrombosis, and blood clots here can extend into the larger veins of the calf.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- The deep plantar venous arch in the forefoot, which receives the plantar metatarsal veins.
- Drains into
- Join the medial plantar veins behind the medial malleolus to form the posterior tibial veins.
- Drains
- Drain the toes, the deep tissues and muscles of the lateral and central sole, and the heel.
Anthromica
See the lateral plantar 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.
