The anterior tibial vein is a

vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenat ...

in the

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

. 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 popliteal vein is a vein of the lower limb. It is formed from the anterior tibial vein and the posterior tibial vein. It travels medial to the popliteal artery, and becomes the femoral vein. It drains blood from the leg. It can be assess ...

. The anterior tibial veins drain 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 joi ...

, knee joint, tibiofibular joint, and the anterior portion of the lower leg. The two anterior tibial veins ascend in the interosseous membrane between the

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the 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 bones. Its upper extremity i ...

and unite with the

posterior tibial vein The posterior tibial veins are veins of the leg in humans. They drain the posterior compartment of the leg and the plantar surface of the foot to the popliteal vein. Structure The posterior tibial veins receive blood from the medial and lat ...

s to form the popliteal vein. Like most

deep vein A deep vein is a vein that is deep in the body. This contrasts with superficial veins that are close to the body's surface. Deep veins are almost always beside an artery with the same name (e.g. the femoral vein is beside the femoral artery). ...

s in legs, anterior tibial veins are accompanied by the homonym

artery 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 pu ...

, the

anterior tibial artery The anterior tibial artery is an artery of the leg. It carries blood to the anterior compartment of the leg and dorsal surface of the foot, from the popliteal artery. Structure Course The anterior tibial artery is a branch of the poplitea ...

, along its course.

References

Veins of the lower limb {{Circulatory-stub