Femoral Vein Anatomy
Femoral Vein Anatomy
- continuation of the popliteal vein
- lies in the intermediate compartment of the femoral sheath
- accompanies the femoral artery in the femoral triangle
- at the inguinal ligament it becomes the external iliac vein
FEMORAL TRIANGLE
- superior: inguinal ligament
- medial border: adductor longus
- lateral border: sartorius
- apex: sartorius crossing the adductor longus muscle
- roof: skin subcutaneous tissue, the cribriform fascia and the fascia lata
- floor: adductor longus, adductor brevis, pectineus and iliopsoas muscles
LANDMARKS
- anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS)
- pubic ramus
- inguinal ligament
- femoral sheath
- medially -> laterally (vein, artery, nerve)
INSERTION POINT
- 1cm below inguinal ligament
- 1cm medial to femoral arterial pulsation
STRUCTURES NEEDLE PASSES THROUGH (superficial -> deep)
- skin
- subcutaneous tissue
- fascia (encloses the femoral vessels)
- femoral vein
- medial: medial compartment of femoral sheath (femoral canal – lymph vessels, nodes and fatty tissue)
- lateral: fibrous septum separating intermediate compartment and lateral compartment (containing femoral artery) and further lateral = femoral nerve
- posterior: posterior fascia and pectineus
References and Links
Textbooks and Journal articles
litfl.com
Social media and web resources
Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
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