THE VEINS OF THE LOWER LIMB. 



917 



Anterior superior 

 spine of ilium 



Femoral vein 



External superficial » 

 femoral vein 



^Superficial 



^Jl'epigastric vein 



Dorsal vein 

 of penis 



Internal 



saphenous vein 



Patella- 



sino-le or paired vein which runs along the dorsal surface of the penis or clitoris 

 immediately beneath the integment (v. dorsalis penis (clitoridis) subcutanea), and at 

 the symphysis pubis bends later- 

 ally to join the external pudics. $i' ^ig. 771. 



2. The Superficial Cir- 

 cumflex Iliac Vein. — The 

 superficial circumflex iliac vein 

 (v. circumflexa ilium superticialis) 

 accompanies the artery of the 

 same name, receiving subcuta- 

 neous branches from the lower 

 lateral portions of the abdomen 

 and from the anterior hip region. 

 It frequently unites with the 

 superficial epigastric vein before 

 opaning into the saphenous. 



3. The Superficial Epi- 

 gastric Vein. — The superficial 

 epigastric vein (v. epigastrica 

 superticialis) takes its origin from 

 the subcutaneous veins of the 

 lower part of the anterior abdom- 

 inal wall as high as a little above 

 the umbilicus. It is joined at a 

 varying level by the thoraco- 

 epigastric vein (Fig. 775), which 

 opens above into the axillary 

 vein, and is occasionally pro- 

 longed downward to open 

 independendy *into the long 

 saphenous. 



Variations.— The long saphe- 

 nous vein may perforate the fascia 

 lata some distance below the fossa 

 ovalis. It is not infrequently replaced 

 in the crural portion of its course by a 

 net-work of veins in which no special 

 main stem can be recognized, and in 

 the thigh it is occasionally double. 



Practical Considerations. 

 — The Iliac Veins and 

 THE Veins of the Lower 

 Extremity. 



The common iliac veins 



illustrate the rule (Owen) that 

 below the diaphragm the veins of 

 the trunk are on a plane posterior 

 to the arteries (except the renal) 

 and incline generally to the 

 venous — the right — side. Thus 

 the left common iliac is always 

 on the inner (right) side of the 

 corresponding artery and ulti- 

 mately crosses the right artery, 

 on a posterior plane. The right 



vein begins slightly to the inner side of the right artery, which it crosses — 

 on a posterior plane — to reach the right side of the fifth lumbar vertebra. These 

 relations are important in operations on the common iliac arteries (page 808). 



Dorsal 



venous arch 



Inner malleolus 



Superficial veins of right lower limb ; internal 

 aspect. 



