434 SURGICAL APPLIED ANATOMY. [Chap. xix. 



opening is sometimes indicated by a slight depression 

 in the integuments. It lies just below Poupart's 

 ligament, and its centre is about one and a half inches 

 below and external to the pubic spine. In thin 

 subjects the long saphenous vein can be often made 

 out, passing to the saphenous opening. 



If a line be drawn from a point just to the inner 

 side of the middle of Poupart's ligament to the tubei'cle 

 for the adductor niagnus, on the inner condyle of the 

 femur, it will correspond in the upper two-thirds of 

 its extent to the position of the femoral artery. Just 

 below Poupart's ligament the femoral vein lies to the 

 inner side of the artery, while the anterior crural 

 nerve runs about one-fourth of an inch to its outer 

 side. The profunda fernoris arises about one and a 

 half inches below Poupart's ligament, and the internal 

 and external circumflex vessels come off about two 

 inches below that structure. 



The head of the femur lies close below the 

 ligament, and just to the outer side of its central 

 point. In very thin subjects this part of the bone 

 can be indistinctly felt through the soft parts when 

 the thigh is extended and rotated outwards. 



The skin over Scarpa's triangle is, unlike that of 

 the buttock, comparatively thin and fine. The loose- 

 ness of its attachment, also, to the parts immediately 

 beneath, permits it to be greatly stretched, as is seen 

 in cases of large femoral herniae, and in certain inguinal 

 tumours of large size. It may even give way under 

 severe traction, as occurred in a case reported by 

 Berne. The patient in this case was a child aged 11, 

 the subject of hip disease. The thighs were flexed 

 upon the abdomen, and, forcible extension being 

 applied to relieve the deformity, the skin gave way 

 just below the groin, and separated to the extent of 

 some two and a half inches. Contracting scars in the 

 region of the groin may produce a permanent flexing 



