264 SURGICAL ANATOMY OF 



opposed articular spaces, united by two ligaments, an 

 anterior and posterior, with a synovial membrane be- 

 tween, occasionally communicating with that of the knee- 

 joint; a circumstance explaining the implication of the 



Fio. 45. 



Horizontal section of knee-joint. 1. Patella. 1'. Synovial membrane. 2. 

 Capsule. 3. Femur. 4. Crucial ligaments. 5. Biceps. 6. Outer- head of gas- 

 trocnemius. 7. Popliteal artery. 8. External popliteal nerve. 9. Popliteal 

 vein. 10. Internal popliteal nerve. 11. External saphena vein. 12. Semi-ten- 

 dinosus. 13. Semi-membranosus. 14. Gracilis. 15. Sartorius. 16. Inner head 

 of gastrocneinius. 



synovial membrane of the head of the fibula becoming 

 involved in effusions into the knee-joint. 



The operations which concern the knee-joint are ex- 

 cision and amputation through it. 



Excision of the Knee-joint. The articular surfaces 

 which require removal may be exposed in several ways, 

 the simplest being by a semilunar incision, extending 

 from the inner side of the inner condyle to the outer side 

 of the external, the convexity of the incision lying mid- 

 way between the lower border of the patella and the 

 tubercle of the tibia ; the joint is thus opened at once. 

 The articular extremities of the femur and tibia, or pa- 



