The anterior tibial artery is an artery of the

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

. It carries blood to the

anterior compartment of the leg The anterior compartment of the leg is a fascial compartment of the lower leg. It contains muscles that produce dorsiflexion and participate in inversion and eversion of the foot, as well as vascular and nervous elements, including the anterior ...

and

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

surface of the

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

, from the

popliteal artery The popliteal artery is a deeply placed continuation of the femoral artery opening in the distal portion of the adductor magnus muscle. It courses through the popliteal fossa and ends at the lower border of the popliteus muscle, where it branches ...

Structure

Course

The anterior tibial artery is a branch of the

. It originates at the distal end of the

popliteus The popliteus muscle in the leg is used for unlocking the knees when walking, by laterally rotating the femur on the tibia during the closed chain portion of the gait cycle (one with the foot in contact with the ground). In open chain movements ...

muscle posterior to the tibia. The artery typically passes anterior to the popliteus muscle prior to passing between the tibia and fibula through an oval opening at the superior aspect of the interosseus membrane. The artery then descends between the

tibialis anterior The tibialis anterior muscle is a muscle in humans that originates along the upper two-thirds of the lateral (outside) surface of the tibia and inserts into the medial cuneiform and first metatarsal bones of the foot. It acts to dorsiflex and inve ...

and

extensor digitorum longus The extensor digitorum longus is a pennate muscle, situated at the lateral part of the front of the leg. Origin and insertion It arises from the lateral condyle of the tibia; from the upper three-quarters of the anterior surface of the body of t ...

muscles. It is accompanied by the

anterior tibial vein The anterior tibial vein is a vein in the lower leg. In human anatomy, there are two anterior tibial veins. They originate and receive blood from the dorsal venous arch, on the back of the foot and empties into the popliteal vein. The anterior ti ...

, and the

deep peroneal nerve The deep fibular nerve (also known as deep peroneal nerve) begins at the bifurcation of the common fibular nerve between the fibula and upper part of the fibularis longus, passes infero-medially, deep to the extensor digitorum longus, to the anteri ...

, along its course. It crosses the anterior aspect of the

ankle joint The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

, at which point it becomes the

dorsalis pedis artery In human anatomy, the dorsalis pedis artery (dorsal artery of foot) is a blood vessel of the lower limb. It arises from the anterior tibial artery, and ends at the first intermetatarsal space (as the first dorsal metatarsal artery and the deep pl ...

Branches

The branches of the anterior tibial artery are: *

posterior tibial recurrent artery The posterior tibial recurrent artery, an inconstant branch, is given off from the anterior tibial before that vessel passes through the gap between superior tibio-fibular joint and upper border of interosseous membrane. It ascends in front of th ...

anterior tibial recurrent artery The anterior tibial recurrent artery is a small artery in the leg. It arises from the anterior tibial artery, as soon as that vessel has passed through the interosseous space. It ascends in the tibialis anterior muscle, ramifies on the front and s ...

* muscular branches *

anterior medial malleolar artery The anterior medial malleolar artery (medial anterior malleolar artery, internal malleolar artery) is an artery in the ankle. It arises about 5 cm. above the ankle-joint from the anterior tibial artery. The anterior medial malleolar artery p ...

anterior lateral malleolar artery The anterior lateral malleolar artery (lateral anterior malleolar artery, external malleolar artery) is an artery in the ankle. The anterior lateral malleolar artery is a branch of the anterior tibial artery. It passes beneath the tendons of the ...

Clinical significance

As the artery passes medial to the

fibular neck The fibula or calf bone is a human leg, leg bone on the Lateral (anatomy), lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long ...

, it becomes vulnerable to damage during a tibial

osteotomy An osteotomy is a surgical operation whereby a bone is cut to shorten or lengthen it or to change its alignment. It is sometimes performed to correct a hallux valgus, or to straighten a bone that has healed crookedly following a fracture. It is ...

Additional images

Image:Gray346.png, Right knee-joint. Posterior view. Image:Gray440_color.png, Cross-section through middle of leg. Image:Thigh arteries schema.svg, Schema of the arteries of the thigh. Anterior tibial artery is labeled at the bottom. File:Slide1RRRR.JPG, Anterior tibial artery File:Slide7RRRR.JPG, Anterior tibial artery File:Slide18wwww.JPG, Anterior tibial artery

Reference

External links

* - "Arteries of the lower extremity shown in association with major landmarks." * http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/figures/chapter_15/15-10.HTM * http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/figures/chapter_17/17-3.HTM {{Authority control Arteries of the lower limb