The superficial epigastric artery (not to be confused with the superior epigastric artery) arises from the front of the femoral artery about 1 cm below the inguinal ligament, and, passing through the

femoral sheath The femoral sheath (also called the crural sheath) is a funnel-shaped downward extension of abdominal fascia within which the femoral artery and femoral vein pass between the abdomen and the thigh. The femoral sheath is subdivided by two vertical ...

and the

fascia cribrosa The cribriform fascia, fascia cribrosa also Hesselbach's fascia is the portion of fascia covering the saphenous opening in the thigh. It is perforated by the great saphenous vein and by numerous blood and lymphatic vessels. (A structure in anatom ...

, turns upward in front of the inguinal ligament, and ascends between the two layers of the

superficial fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal orga ...

of the

abdominal wall In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the v ...

nearly as far as the umbilicus. It distributes branches to the

superficial subinguinal lymph glands Superficial may refer to: * Superficial anatomy, is the study of the external features of the body *Superficiality, the discourses in philosophy regarding social relation * Superficial charm, the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick an ...

, the

, and the

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, shell, germ or rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or ...

; it

anastomoses 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 ...

with branches of the

inferior epigastric Inferior may refer to: * Inferiority complex * An Anatomical terms of location#Superior and inferior, anatomical term of location * Inferior angle of the scapula, in the human skeleton *Inferior (book), ''Inferior'' (book), by Angela Saini * ''The ...

, and with its fellow of the opposite side.

Additional images

File:Gray393.png, The subcutaneous inguinal ring File:Gray550.png, The femoral artery File:Gray580.png, The great saphenous vein and its tributaries at the fossa ovalis File:Gray581.png, The great saphenous vein and its tributaries File:Gray584.png, The femoral vein and its tributaries File:Slide4Nemo.JPG, Anterior abdominal wall. Intermediate dissection. Anterior view.

References

Arteries of the abdomen Arteries of the lower limb {{circulatory-stub