570 A MANUAL OF ANATOMY. 



The Femoral Artery. Figs. 1 1 7 to 1 20. 



This is that portion of the great arterial trunk to the 

 lower extremity which extends from beneath Poupart's 

 ligament to the opening in the adductor magnus muscle. 

 It is a continuation of the external iliac above, and is con- 

 tinued as the popliteal below. 



The course of the artery is indicated by a line drawn 

 from the mid-point between the anterior superior iliac 

 spine and the symphysis pubis to the adductor tubercle, 

 the thigh being slightly abducted, flexed, and rotated 

 outward. 



The femoral artery passes through Scarpa's triangle from 

 the middle of its base to its apex, and through Hunter's 

 canal. 



Its relations will be considered in these localities. 



Relations of the Femoral Artery. Scarpa's triangle. See 

 above. Here the artery is centrally placed between the 

 femoral vein on the inside and the anterior crural nerve and 

 its branches on the outside. 



The vein as it descends passes to a deeper level than the 

 artery, so that at the apex of the triangle it comes to occupy 

 a position behind and internal to the artery. 



The internal cutaneous branch of the anterior crural 

 nerve crosses over the front of the artery in the lower part 

 of the triangle, while the internal saphenous nerve con- 

 tinues along the outer side of the vessel. 



In this part of its course the artery rests at its upper 

 part upon the tendon of the psoas magnus (which separates 

 it from the pelvis and the capsule of the hip-joint) the 

 nerve to the pectineus and that muscle itself. At its lower 

 portion, upon the profunda artery and vein (which inter- 

 vene between the femoral and the pectineus muscle), and 

 the adductor longus. In thin people a small portion of the 



