Anterior tibial artery

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.

Anterior tibial artery
Details
Sourcepopliteal artery
Branchespost. tibial recurrent
ant. tibial recurrent
musc. branches
ant. medial malleolar
ant. lateral malleolar
dorsalis pedis
Veinanterior tibial vein
Suppliesanterior compartment of the leg
Identifiers
Latinarteria tibialis anterior
TAA12.2.16.042
FMA43894
Anatomical terminology

It is accompanied by 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

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.