THE FEMORAL ARTERY 



01 



passes down the front and medial side of the thigh. It ends at the junction of the 

 middle with the lower third of the thigh, where it passes through an opening in 

 the Adductor magnus to become the popliteal artery. The vessel, at the upper part 

 of the thigh, lies in front of the hip-joint; in the lower part of its course it lies to 

 the medial side of the body of the femur, and between these two parts, where it 

 crosses the angle between the head and body, the vessel is some distance from the 

 bone. The first 4 cm. of the vessel is enclosed, together with the femoral vein, 

 in a fibrous sheath the femoral sheath. In the upper third of the thigh the femoral 

 artery is contained in the femoral triangle (Scarpa's triangle), and in the middle 

 third of the thigh, in the adductor canal (Hunter's canal). 



The femoral sheath (crural sheath) (Figs. 545, 546) is formed by a prolongation 

 downward, behind the inguinal ligament, of the fascise which line the abdomen, 

 the transversalis fascia being continued down in front of the femoral vessels and 

 the iliac fascia behind them. The sheath assumes the form of a short funnel, the 

 wide end of which is directed upward, while the lower, narrow end fuses with the 



FIG. 547. The relations of the femoral and abdominal inguinal rings, seen from within the abdomen. Right side. 



fascial investment of the vessels, about 4 cm. below the inguinal ligament. It is 

 strengthened in front by a band termed the deep crural arch (page 419) . The lateral 

 wall of the sheath is vertical and is perforated by the lumboinguinal nerve; the 

 medial wall is directed obliquely downward and lateralward, and is pierced by the 

 great saphenous vein and by some lymphatic vessels. The sheath is divided by 

 two vertical partitions which stretch between its anterior and posterior walls. 

 The lateral compartment contains the femoral artery, and the intermediate the 

 femoral vein, while the medial and smallest compartment is named the femoral 

 canal, and contains some lymphatic vessels and a lymph gland imbedded in a small 

 amount of areolar tissue. The femoral canal is conical and measures about 1.25 

 cm. in length. Its base, directed upward and named the femoral ring, is oval in 

 form, its long diameter being directed transversely and measuring about 1.25 cm. 

 The femoral ring (Figs. 546, 547) is bounded in front by the inguinal ligament, 

 behind by the Pectineus covered by the pectineal fascia, medially by the crescentic 

 base of the lacunar ligament, and laterally by the fibrous septum on the medial 

 side of the femoral vein. The spermatic cord in the male and the round ligament 

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