Albany Medical College Virtual Anatomy Lab

Lab 8 - Module 1 - Anatomy of the Knee: Page 9 of 10

Blood Flow Around the Knee Joint

popart
popart
Tap on image to enlarge
Add the Femoral artery.
Add the Politeal artery.
Add the Anterior and Posterior Tibial arteries.

Arterial Anastomosis Around Knee Joint

The genicular anastomosis (anastomosis around the knee joint) is a rich and intricate interconnection of several arteries in the vicinity of the knee joint.

This arterial anastomosis supplies the distal femur, proximal tibia, patella, joint capsule, synovium and superficial tissues. Vascular injection techniques have demonstrated that the anastomosis is composed of two interconnected arterial networks: a superficial network located in the superficial tissues, and a deep network situated adjacent to the bone and fibrous capsule of the knee joint.

The arteries which make up the genicular anastomosis are:


Add the medial superior genicular artery.
Add the lateral superior genicular artery.
Add the medial inferior genicular artery.
Add the lateral inferior genicular artery.
The remaining arteries (NOT IDENTIFIED IN THIS CADAVER) are the following:

• The descending genicular artery - a branch of the femoral artery. It arises in the distal part of the adductor canal. It enters the substance of the vastus medialis muscle and runs inferiorly towards the medial aspect of the knee, where it anastomoses with the medial superior genicular artery.

• The saphenous artery - a branch of the descending genicular artery, and arises in the lower part of the adductor canal. It pierces the roof of the adductor canal and runs alongside the saphenous nerve. It supplies skin on the medial aspect of the knee and medial aspect of the upper part of the leg, and ends by anastomosing with the medial inferior genicular artery.

• The anterior and posterior tibial recurrent arteries

• The circumflex fibular artery

• Descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery - arises from either the femoral artery or the profunda femoris artery. It descends along the anterior edge of vastus lateralis, which it supplies, lying posterior to rectus femoris. It continues to descend to the knee, anastomosing with the superior genicular branch of the popliteal artery. .