Anterior tibial artery

Dr Sonam Vadera and Dr Aaron Wong et al.

The anterior tibial artery is the main arterial supply of the anterior compartment of the leg.

Gross anatomy

The anterior tibial artery arises from the popliteal artery in the popliteal fossa and continues distally as the dorsalis pedis artery.

Course

The popliteal artery usually divides at the distal border of the popliteus muscle into the tibioperoneal trunk and anterior tibial artery.

While still in the posterior compartment of the leg, the anterior tibial artery gives off the:

recurrent posterior popliteal artery
circumflex fibular artery

Subsequently, it passes through a gap above the interosseous membrane into the anterior compartment of the leg. Here it lies on the interosseous membrane, lateral to tibialis anterior muscle.

The anterior tibial artery passes in front of the ankle joint and continues as the dorsalis pedis artery onto the dorsum of the foot lateral to the tendon of the extensor hallucis longus and medial to the extensor digitorum longus and deep peroneal nerve.

Branches

Branches include:

anterior tibial recurrent artery: arises immediately, passes upward in the tibialis anterior muscle to anastomose with lateral genicular branches (of the popliteal artery) at the knee
muscular branches
perforating branches: pass behind extensor digitorum longus, piercing the deep fascia and supplying the skin of the anterior leg
medial malleolar artery: anastomoses with the medial malleolar branch of the posterior tibial artery
lateral malleolar artery: anastomoses with the perforating branch of the peroneal artery

References

Anatomy: Lower limb

Anatomy: Lower limb

skeleton of the lower limb
joints of the lower limb
- hip joint
  - ligaments
  - additional structures
  - ossification centers
- knee joint
- tibiofibular joints
  - proximal tibiofibular joint
  - distal tibiofibular syndesmosis
    - ligaments
      - anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
        accessory anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
      - posterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
- ankle joint
  - regional anatomy
    - medial ankle
    - lateral ankle
    - anterior ankle
  - ligaments
    - medial collateral (deltoid) ligament
    - lateral collateral ligament
    - additional structures
    - ankle bursae
      - retrocalcaneal bursa
      - subcutaneous calcaneal bursa
    - ossification centers of the ankle
  - variants
    - ball and socket ankle joint
- foot joints
  - subtalar joint
    - articulations
      - talocalcaneal joint
    - ligaments
    - associated structures
  - mid-tarsal (Chopart) joint
    - talonavicular joint
    - calcaneocuboid joint
  - tarsometatarsal (Lisfranc) joint
    - ligaments
      - Lisfranc ligament
  - intermetatarsal joint
  - metatarsophalangeal joint
  - interphalangeal joint
spaces of the lower limb
- adductor canal
- femoral sheath
  - femoral canal
    - femoral ring
- femoral triangle (contents mnemonic | boundaries mnemonic)
- foot subdivisions
- popliteal fossa (mnemonic)
- tarsal tunnel (mnemonic)
- triangular space of cruciate ligaments
muscles of the lower limb
- muscles of the pelvic group
  - inner hip group
    - iliopsoas muscle
  - gluteal region
  - lateral rotator group
- muscles of the thigh
- muscles of the leg
  - anterior compartment of the leg
  - posterior compartments of the leg
    - superficial posterior compartment of the leg (calf)
      - triceps surae
        
        medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle
        
        soleus muscle
        accessory soleus muscle
      - plantaris muscle
      - calcaneal tendon
    - deep posterior compartment of the leg
  - lateral compartment of the leg
    - peroneus brevis muscle
    - peroneus longus muscle
- muscles of the foot
  - dorsal muscles
    - extensor hallucis brevis muscle
    - extensor digitorum brevis muscle
  - plantar muscles
    - 1st layer
    - 2nd layer
      - quadratus plantae muscle
      - lumbrical muscles
    - 3rd layer
    - 4th layer
      - dorsal interossei muscles
      - plantar interossei muscles
- accessory muscles
  - accessory peroneal muscles
vascular supply of the lower limb
- arterial supply of the lower limb
- venous drainage of the lower limb
  - deep system
    - common femoral vein
      - femoral vein
        
        deep femoral vein
        
        popliteal vein
        
        peroneal vein
        
        posterior tibial vein
        
        anterior tibial vein
  - superficial system
    - great saphenous vein
      - dorsal venous plexus
    - small saphenous vein
      - vein of Giacomini
innervation of the lower limb
- lumbar plexus (mnemonic)
  - femoral nerve
    - saphenous nerve
  - obturator nerve
- sacral plexus
  - sciatic nerve (motor distribution)
    - common peroneal nerve
      - superficial peroneal nerve
      - deep peroneal nerve
    - tibial nerve
lymphatic system of the lower limb
- lymphatic pathways
  - anteromedial group
  - anterolateral group
  - posteromedial group
  - posterolateral group
- lower limb lymph nodes
  - inguinal lymph nodes
    - superficial inguinal lymph nodes
    - deep inguinal lymph nodes
  - popliteal lymph nodes

Article information

rID: 34597

System: Vascular

Section: Anatomy

Tag: anatomy

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

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