Anterior tibial artery

Anterior tibial artery
Details
Source popliteal artery
Branches post. tibial recurrent
ant. tibial recurrent
musc. branches
ant. medial malleolar
ant. lateral malleolar
dorsalis pedis
Vein anterior tibial vein
Supplies anterior compartment of the leg
Identifiers
Latin arteria tibialis anterior
TA A12.2.16.042
FMA 43894

Anatomical terminology

The anterior tibial artery of the leg carries blood to the anterior compartment of the leg and dorsal surface of the foot, from the popliteal artery.

It is accompanied the anterior tibial vein, along its course.

It crosses the anterior aspect of the ankle joint, at which point it becomes the dorsalis pedis artery.

Course

Back of left lower extremity, showing origin of anterior tibial artery before it continues on the anterior side.

The artery originates at the distal end of the popliteus muscle posterior to the tibia. The artery typically passes anterior to the popliteus muscle prior to passing between the tibia and fibula through an oval opening at the superior aspect of the interosseus membrane. The artery then descends between the tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus muscles.

Branches

The branches of the anterior tibial artery are:

Clinical importance

As the artery passes medial to the fibular neck it becomes vulnerable to damage during a tibial osteotomy.

Additional images

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.