THE DORSALIS PEDIS ARTERY 



701 



ANTERIOR 



PERONEAL' 



ARTERY 



EXTERNAL 



MALLEOLAR 



ARTERY 



INTERNAL 



MALLEOLAR 



ARTERY 



DORSALIS PEDIS 

 ARTERY 



Peculiarities in Size. The dorsal artery of the foot may be larger than usual, to compen- 

 sate for a deficient plantar artery; or it may be deficient in its terminal branches to the toes, 

 which are then derived from the internal plantar; rr its place may be supplied altogether by a 

 large anterior peroneal artery. 



Position. This artery frequently curves outward, lying external to the line between the 

 middle of the ankle and the back part of the first interosseous space. 



Surface Marking. The dorsalis pedis artery is indicated on the surface of the dorsum of 

 the foot by a line drawn from the centre of the space between the two malleoli to the back of the 

 first intermetatarsal space. 



Applied Anatomy. This artery may be tied, by making an incision through the integu- 

 ment between two and three inches in length, on the fibular tide of the tendon of the Extensor 

 proprius hallucis, in the interval between it and the inner border of the short Extensor muscle. 

 The incision should not ex- 

 tend farther forward than the 

 back part of the first inter- 

 metatarsal space,as the artery 

 divides in that situation. The 

 deep fascia being divided to 

 the same extent, the artery 

 will be exposed, the nerve 

 lying upon its outer side. 



Branches. - The 

 branches of the dorsalis 

 pedis are: 



Cutaneous. 

 Tar sal. 



Metatarsal Interos- 

 seous. 



Dorsalis hallucis. 

 Communicating. 



Cutaneous branches 



go to the skin of the dor- 

 sum and inner surface of 

 the foot. 



The tar sal artery (a. 

 /ar.sra lateralis] arises 

 from the dorsalis pedis, 

 as that vessel crosses the 

 navicular bone; it passes 

 in an arched direction 

 outward, lying upon the 

 tarsal bones, and covered 

 by the Extensor brevis 

 digitorum; it supplies 

 that muscle and the articulations of the tarsus, and anastomoses with branches 

 from the metatarsal, external malleolar, peroneal, and external plantar arteries. 



The metatarsal (a. arcuata) arises a little anterior to the preceding; it passes 

 outward to the outer part of the foot, over the bases of the metatarsal bones, 

 beneath the tendons of the short Extensor, its direction being influenced by its 

 point of origin; and it anastomoses with the tarsal and external plantar arteries. 

 This vessel gives off three branches, the dorsal interosseous arteries (aa. meta- 

 tarseae dorsales), which pass forward upon the three outer Dorsal interossei mus- 

 cles, and, in the clefts between the toes, divide into two dorsal collateral branches 

 for the adjoining toes (aa. digitales dorsales]. At the back part of each inter- 

 osseous space these vessels receive the posterior perforating branches from the 

 plantar arch, and at the fore part of each interosseous space they are joined by 



DORSAL 

 INTEROSSEOUS 



COMMUNICATING 

 ARTERY 



DORSALIS 

 HALLUCIS 

 'ARTERY 



FIG. 486.- 



-Diagram of the arteries of the dorsal surface of the foot. 

 (Poirier and Charpy.) 



