Small saphenous vein
Vena saphena parva
A large superficial vein of the back of the leg, running from the outer edge of the foot to the popliteal fossa.
At a glance
- English
- Small saphenous vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena saphena parva
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the small saphenous vein
The small saphenous vein, also called the short or lesser saphenous vein, is the second main superficial vein of the lower limb after the great saphenous. It lies in the subcutaneous tissue. It starts at the lateral end of the foot's dorsal venous arch, where the dorsal vein of the little toe comes in, so its origin is linked through the arch with that of the great saphenous vein on the medial side.
From there it turns behind and below the lateral malleolus and climbs the back of the calf, first along the lateral border of the calcaneal tendon and then up the midline. The sural nerve lies close beside it for much of the way, which matters whenever the vein is exposed. In the upper calf it runs in the groove between the two heads of gastrocnemius, and it usually pierces the deep fascia before reaching the knee.
Its ending varies. Most often it opens into the popliteal vein in the popliteal fossa, at or a little above the knee joint. It may first join a gastrocnemius vein; it may run on up the thigh and end in the great saphenous vein; or it may continue as the Giacomini vein, an ascending connection that reaches the great saphenous vein in the upper third of the thigh.
Like the great saphenous, it can become varicose when its valves fail, and incompetence at its junction with the popliteal vein is a recognised source of chronic venous insufficiency. Treatments include stripping or closing the vein, taking care to spare the sural nerve. A healthy small saphenous vein can also be harvested, sometimes endoscopically, as a graft for coronary artery bypass surgery when other conduits are unavailable.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Lateral end of the dorsal venous arch on the foot, where the dorsal vein of the little toe joins it.
- Drains into
- Usually the popliteal vein in the popliteal fossa; sometimes a gastrocnemius vein, the great saphenous vein, or the Giacomini vein.
- Drains
- Drains the skin and superficial tissues of the lateral foot and the back of the leg.
Anthromica
See the small saphenous vein 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.
