Valentine Popliteal Artery Anatomy

Question 1

Where is the popliteal artery situated?

Answer 1

It is situated between the adductor hiatus and the lower border of popliteus muscle posterior to the knee joint.

Question 2

Beneath the skin and superficial fascia, the lower extremity is wrapped in what?

Answer 2

An aponeurotic girdle of varying thickness known as the fascia lata

Question 3

Where is the fascia lata thickest?

Answer 3

It is particularly thick along the iliotibial band of the lateral thigh and around the knee joint

Question 4

Why is the fascia lata so thick at the IT band and knee?

Answer 4

It serves as the retinaculum holding the hamstring tendons and the origins of the gastrocnemius muscle snugly around the popliteal neurovascular bundle

Question 5

How many septa connects the fascia lata to the supracondylar lines of the femur?

Answer 5

2

Question 6

What do the septa of the fascia lata divide?

Answer 6

They divide the quadriceps muscle of the thigh from the adductor muscles medially and from the hamstring muscles posterioly.