Introduction to the lower limb

Question 1

What function do the bones play?

Answer 1

Many of the bone structures can be felt or seen on a living patient, and so can act as landmarks for structures we can’t see or feel.

Question 2

What are the names for some bony landmarks?

Answer 2

Foramen - a hole in the bone
Fossa - the name for a shallow depression or crater
Spine - A sharp, raised region
Tuberosity, tubercle, trochanter - A raised bump for the attachment of muscles or ligaments

Question 3

What are the three major joints in the lower limb?

Answer 3

There are three major joints in the lower limb - the hip, knee and ankle

Question 4

What to know for the muscles

Answer 4

What they’re called?
Where they are?
What they do?

Question 5

The nerves in the lower limb

Answer 5

The somatic nervous system consists of two groups of fibres: efferent fibres that exit the spinal cord to innervate our muscles and afferent fibres that arrive back with sensory information from our skin

Most nerves in the lower limb carry both types of fibres.

Question 6

The arteries in the lower limb

Answer 6

The arteries generally lie deep within the body, forming a continuous network from the heart to every part of the limb. Often these are named after a bone they run close to.

Question 7

The veins in the lower limb

Answer 7

The veins in the lower limb run in two groups: deep and superficial

-Deep veins generally follow the course of the arteries (although running in the opposite direction) and have the same name.
-Superficial veins (the veins we can see just under
our skin) are much more variable, and only a few
large, consistent ones are named. Blood in the
superficial veins must drain into the deep veins
before it can be returned to the heart.