PROFUNDA FEMORIS (DEEP FEMORAL) ARTERY

SUMMARY

1. Arises from the lateral aspect of the femoral artery 4cm below the inguinal ligament.
2. Runs deep to the adductor longus (femoral artery lies superficial to the adductor longus).
3. It then continues on the adductor magnus, close to the linea aspera.
4. The artery ends as the fourth perforating branch.
5. Apart from the numerous muscular branches, it gives off the large medial and lateral circumflex femoral arteries.

(AKA Deep artery of the thigh)

Image: Human_leg_bones_labeled.svg:Jecowa at en.wikipediaderivative work: Mcstrother [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons [Accessed 7 Apr. 2019].

Reference(s)

R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Gray, H., Carter, H.V. and Davidson, G. (2017). Gray’s anatomy. London: Arcturus.