234 THE INFERIOR EXTREMITY 



side of the thigh the fascia lata is so exceedingly delicate and 

 thin that the subjacent muscular fibres shine through it, and 

 it is very apt to be removed with the superficial fascia unless 

 care is exercised in the dissection. 



Proximally, around the root of the limb, the fascia lata is 

 attached to the inguinal ligament and the bones of the pelvis. 

 Thus, posteriorly, it is continuous with the fascia of the buttock, 

 and through that it is fixed to the coccyx, sacrum, and crest of 

 the ilium. On the lateral side it is attached to the crest of the 

 ilium ; and on the medial side, to the body of the pubis, the 

 margin of the pubic arch, and to the tuberosity of the ischium. 



Anteriorly, its proximal attach- 

 ment is complicated by the 

 presence of the fossa ovalis. 

 That aperture separates the 

 fascia lata into a lateral or iliac 

 portion and a medial or pectineal 

 portion, now known as the fascia 

 pectinea. The subdivision ex- 

 tends distally only to the distal 

 border of the fossa ovalis. The 

 iliac portion is attached along the 

 FIG. 108. Diagram to show the whole length of the inguinal liga- 

 arrangement of the three inter- ment Its me dial CrCSCCntic 

 muscular septa and the three , , , c -, 



osteo-fascial compartments of mar g m bounds the fossa ovahs 

 the thigh. (After Turner. ) laterally and forms its falciform 



a. Medial intermuscular septum. edge. The COH1U SUpCHUS of 



c. S^^^SS^S^ that e d g e blends with the lig. 



lacunare (O.T. Gimbernat's liga- 

 ment) an expansion of the medial end of the inguinal 

 ligament. Its inferior cornu joins the pectineal portion of 

 the fascia lata. The fascia pectinea clothes the proximal 

 portions of the adductor longus and pectineus muscles. It 

 recedes from the surface as it is traced laterally, passes 

 posterior to the sheath of the femoral vessels, and blends 

 with the capsule of the hip joint, with the deep intermuscular 

 septa, and with the fascia iliaca, which covers the ilio-psoas 

 muscle (Fig. 113). To the medial side of the femoral vessels 

 the fascia pectinea is attached proximally to the pectineal 

 line of the pubic bone. The fascia cribrosa, as previously 

 stated, is to be regarded as a thin piece of the fascia lata, 

 stretched across the fossa ovalis. Laterally, it is continuous 



