The genicular arteries (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''geniculum'', "knee") are six

arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pul ...

in the

human leg The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb (anatomy), limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or Gluteal muscles, gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to ...

, five of which are branches of 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 ...

, that

anastomose An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal ...

in the

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

region in the

patellar network The patellar network (circulatory anastomosis around the knee-joint, patellar anastomosis, genicular anastomosis, articular vascular network of knee or rete articulare genushttp://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/rete+articulare+genus) i ...

or ''genicular anastomosis''. They supply blood to the

patella The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

, together with contributions from the

descending genicular artery The descending genicular artery (highest genicular artery) arises from the femoral artery just before it passes through the adductor hiatus. It immediately divides into two branches: * a saphenous branch, which classically joins with the medial i ...

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 ...

, and

descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery The lateral circumflex femoral artery, also known as the lateral femoral circumflex artery, or the external circumflex artery, is an artery in the upper thigh. It is usually a branch of the profunda femoris artery, and produces three branches. It i ...

. The descending genicular artery also known as the ''highest genicular artery'' is the only genicular artery to arise from the

femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery or profunda femoris artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the fem ...

and has the most superior or proximal origin of all six genicular arteries.

Popliteal branches

Five genicular arteries branch from the

to form a network around the knee, the genicular anastomosis. The anastomosis provides

collateral circulation Collateral circulation is the alternate circulation around a blocked artery or vein via another path, such as nearby minor vessels. It may occur via preexisting vascular redundancy (analogous to engineered redundancy), as in the circle of Wil ...

in the event of damage to the region. Inferior or distal to the origin of the descending genicular artery are two superior genicular arteries: *

Medial superior genicular artery The medial superior genicular, a branch of the popliteal artery, runs in front of the Semimembranosus and Semitendinosus, above the medial head of the Gastrocnemius, and passes beneath the tendon of the Adductor magnus. It divides into two branche ...

Lateral superior genicular artery The lateral superior genicular artery is a branch of the popliteal artery that supplies a portion of the knee joint. Course It passes above the lateral condyle of the femur, beneath the tendon of the Biceps femoris. Branching It divides into a s ...

The

middle genicular artery The middle genicular artery (azygos articular artery) is a small branch of the popliteal artery. It supplies parts of the knee joint. Structure The middle genicular artery (MGA) arises from the anterolateral surface of the popliteal artery. Th ...

is a small branch of the popliteal artery that originates inferior or distal to both the superior genicular arteries as well as the

sural arteries The sural arteries (inferior muscular arteries) are two large branches, lateral and medial, which are distributed to the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles. ''Sural'' means related to the calf. The term applies to any of four or five ...

. Inferior or distal to the origins of the superior and middle genicular arteries are the two

inferior genicular arteries The inferior genicular arteries (inferior articular arteries), two in number, arise from the popliteal beneath the gastrocnemius. On the inside of the knee, is the medial inferior genicular artery, and on the outer side is the lateral inferior g ...

: *

Medial inferior genicular artery The medial inferior genicular is an artery of the leg. Course It first descends along the upper margin of the popliteus, to which it gives branches; it then passes below the medial condyle of the tibia, beneath the tibial collateral ligament, at ...

Lateral inferior genicular artery The lateral inferior genicular is an artery of the leg. Course It runs lateralward above the head of the fibula to the front of the knee-joint, passing in its course beneath the lateral head of the gastrocnemius, the fibular collateral ligament, ...

Femoral branch

The descending genicular artery is the only one to branch from the

References

{{Arteries of lower limbs Arteries of the lower limb