The lateral tarsal artery (tarsal artery) arises from the

dorsalis pedis 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 ...

, as that vessel crosses the

navicular bone The navicular bone is a small bone found in the feet of most mammals. Human anatomy The navicular bone in humans is one of the tarsal bones, found in the foot. Its name derives from the human bone's resemblance to a small boat, caused by th ...

; it passes in an arched direction lateralward, lying upon the

tarsal bones In the human body, the tarsus is a cluster of seven articulating bones in each foot situated between the lower end of the tibia and the fibula of the lower leg and the metatarsus. It is made up of the midfoot ( cuboid, medial, intermediate, and ...

, and covered by

extensor hallucis brevis The extensor hallucis brevis is a muscle on the top of the foot that helps to extend the big toe. Structure The extensor hallucis brevis is essentially the medial part of the extensor digitorum brevis muscle. Some anatomists have debated wheth ...

and

extensor digitorum brevis The extensor digitorum brevis muscle (sometimes EDB) is a muscle on the upper surface of the foot that helps extend digits 2 through 4. Structure The muscle originates from the forepart of the upper and lateral surface of the calcaneus (in fron ...

; it supplies these muscles and the articulations of the tarsus, and receives the

arcuate ''Arcuate'' (Latin for "curved") can refer to: Anatomy * Arcuate fasciculus * Arcuate line (disambiguation) * Arcuate artery (disambiguation), several arteries * Arcuate nucleus * Arcuate nucleus (medulla) * Arcuate ligaments of the diaphragm * A ...

over the base of the fifth metatarsal. It may receive contributions from branches of the anterior lateral malleolar and the perforating branch of the

peroneal artery In anatomy, the fibular artery, also known as the peroneal artery, supplies blood to the lateral compartment of the leg. It arises from the tibial-fibular trunk. Structure The fibular artery arises from the bifurcation of tibial-fibular trunk int ...

directed towards the joint capsule, and from the lateral plantar arteries through perforating arteries of the foot.

References

External links

* http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/figures/chapter_17/17-3.HTM Arteries of the lower limb {{circulatory-stub