Femoral triangle

Femoral triangle
Drawing of the left femoral triangle - shows superior portion of the femoral vein.
Right femoral sheath laid open to show its three compartments
Latin	trigonum femorale
Gray's	subject #157 626

The femoral triangle (of Scarpa) is an anatomical region of the upper inner human thigh.

Boundaries

It is bounded by:

• (superiorly) the inguinal ligament
• (medially) the medial border of adductor longus muscle
• (laterally) the medial border of sartorius muscle

Its floor is formed (medial to lateral) by adductor longus, pectineus and iliopsoas.^[1] Its roof is formed by the fascia lata.

Contents

It is important as a number of vital structures pass through it, right under the skin. The following structures are contained within the femoral triangle (from lateral to medial):

• terminal part of the femoral nerve and its branches
• femoral sheath
• femoral artery and its branches
• femoral veins and its tributaries
• deep inguinal lymph nodes (snell, 8th edition)

FLOOR

• iliopsoas
• pectineus
• adductor longus

ROOF is formed by the skin and fasciae of the thigh

Clinical significance

Since the femoral triangle provides easy access to a major artery, coronary angioplasty is often performed by entering the femoral artery at the femoral triangle. In first aid, heavy bleeding in the leg can be stopped by applying pressure to points in the femoral triangle. Another clinical significance of the femoral triangle is that the femoral artery is positioned at the midinguinal point(mid point between the pubic symphysis and the anterior superior iliac spine),medial to it lies the femoral vein.Thus the femoral vein once located allows for femoral venopuncture.Femoral venopuncture is useful when there are no superficial veins that can be aspirated in a patient,in the case of collapse. The positive pulsation of the femoral artery signifies that the heart is beating and also blood is flowing to the lower extremity.(by Igwe Eval)

Additional images

Front and medial aspect of right thigh.

References

1. ^ "Anterior Thigh". http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/antthigh.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-27. 

External links

• SUNY Labs 12:02-0101 - "Anterior and Medial Thigh Region: Boundaries of the Femoral Triangle"
• -483065779 at GPnotebook
• Femoral+triangle at eMedicine Dictionary
• antthigh at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)
• Diagram at washington.edu