Popliteal Fossa and Leg Flashcards
Does the fibula bear weight?
No- only the tibia bears weight
This is deep to the skin and superficial to the crural fascia (deep fascia)
Superficial fascia
What are the 2 superficial veins of the leg?
- Great saphenous v
- Small saphenous v
What does the great saphenous vein empty into?
The femoral vein at the saphenous opening
What does the small saphenous vein empty into and where?
The popliteal vein at the popliteal fossa
What divides the leg into anterior, lateral, and posterior compartments?
-Deep fascial extensions
What do the deep veins in the legs do?
Deep veins flank the arteries and travel within sheaths
What vein is commonly used for coronary artery bypass?
Great saphenous vein
This is an important landmark on the tibia where the IT band inserts
Gerdys tubercle
How many muscles attach to the fibula
9 (8 go up and 1 goes down)
What type of joint is the proximal tibiofibular joint?
Synovial planar
What type of joint is the interosseous membrane?
- Syndesmoses
- the amount of movement is proportional to the length of the fibers
- longer fibers=more movement
The interosseous membrane and the inferior tibiofibular joint make up…
Compound fibrous joint
What is the main action of the anterior compartment muscles?
Dorsiflex
What are the boundaries of the anterior compartment?
- Lateral tibia
- Interosseous membrane
- Medial fibula
- Anterior intermuscular septum
What hold down the tendons of the anterior compartment as they enter the foot
Extensor retinacula
- Superior
- Inferior (Y shaped)
What is the main movement of the posterior compartment
Plantarflexion
-this is the largest compartment of the leg
What separates the superficial and deep posterior compartments of the leg
-Transverse intermuscular septum
The deep compartment of the leg has what borders…
- Tibia
- Fibula
- Interosseous membrane
This spans over the medial malleus to hold down the tendons of the posterior compartment
Flexor retinaculum
The flexor retinaculum is a continuation of…
Transverse intermuscular septum
The flexor retinaculum holds down these structures on the medial mallelus
- Tendons of the posterior compartment
- Tibial Nerve
- Posterior tibial artery
What is the main action of the lateral compartment
Evertors
What are the boundaries of the lateral compartment
- Fibula
- Anterior and poster intermuscular septa
Where does the lateral compartment end?
Superior fibular retinaculum
What is compartment syndrome?
When you have inflammation, edema, hemorrhage and this leads to high pressures in the closely packed compartments
What are the borders of the popliteal fossa
Superolaterally=Biceps femorus m
Superomedially= Semimembranosus m
Inferomedially=Medial head of gastroc
Inferolaterally= Lateral head of gastroc
What is the roof over the popliteal fossa
-Skin and deep fascia
What are the bony landmark borders of the popliteal fossa
- Supracondylar lines of the femur
- Popliteal surface of the femur
- Soleal line of the tibia
- Popliteus muscle
- Posterior capsule of knee
What are the contents of the popliteal fossa
- Termination of small saphenous vein (turns to popliteal vein)
- Popliteal vein and artery
- Tibial and common fibular nerves
- POsterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh
- Lymph nodes
- Vessels
- Fat
This artery travels anteromedially through the thigh and it changes its name after reaching the adductor hiatus
Femoral artery –> Popliteal artery
Does the popliteal artery run deep or superficial in the popliteal fossa?
Deep
What does the popliteal artery give rise to?
-5 genicular arteries (anastomoses of the knee joint)
Where and what does the popliteal artery divide into?
At the inferior border of the popliteus it divides in to the anterior and posterior tibial artery
This is the artery for the anterior compartment
-passes through a gap in the interosseosu membrane to get there
Anterior tibial artery
What are where does the anterior tibial aerty change into?
- Distal to the inferior extensor retinaculum
- Becomes the dorsal artery of the foot (dorsus pedus)
This is the more direct continuation of the popliteal artery
-The artery of the posterior compartment
Posterior tibial artery
What does the posterior tibial artery supply
All the arteries of the posterior compartment
Where and what does the posterior tibial artery divide into?
- Distal to the flexor retinaculum
- Medial and lateral plantar arteries
This is a branch of the posterior tibial artery and it runs lateral and parallel to the posterior tibial artery
Fibular artery
What does the fibular artery supply?
Muscles of the posterior compartment and the lateral compartment via perforating branches
What is the layout of the 5 geniculate arteries
- Superolateral
- Superomedial
- Inferolateral
- Inferomedial
- Middle
What are the arteries that participate in the knee anastomoses
- Branches of the femoral and lateral circumflex femoral arteries
- Descending genicular
- Descending branch
- Anterior tibial recurrent
What does the sciatic nerve divide into
- Tibial (medial and larger)
- Common fibular (smaller and lateral)
This nerve bisects the fossa and gives branches to the superficial posterior muslces and the popliteus
Tibial nerve
What are the cutaneous branches that come off of the tibial nerve
-The medial sural cutaneous nerves
What gives off the lateral sural nerve
The fibular nerve
The medial and lateral sural nerves join together and become the…
Sural nerve
What does the sural nerve innervate
The skin on the lateral side of the leg and ankle
The tibial nerve continues and travels with the posterior tibial artery to become the…
medial and lateral plantar nerves (distal to the flexor retinaculum
This nerve passes superficially to the lateral gastroc head and posterior fibular head
Common fibular nerve
The common fibular nerve winds around the fibular head and divides into…
- Superficial fibular nerve
- Deep fibular nerve
The superficial fibular nerve supplies…
- Muscles of the lateral compartment
- Skin on the distal 1/3 of the anterior surface of the leg and the majority of the dorsum of the foot
What does the deep fibular nerve innervate
- Descends on the surface of the interosseous membrane and supplies the anterior compartment muscles
- Dorsum of the foot
- Skin between first and second toes
