Common femoral vein

Femoral vein
including femoral vein.
Drawing of the left femoral triangle - shows superior portion of the femoral vein.
Details
Source	popliteal, profunda femoris, great saphenous
Drains to	external iliac vein
Artery	femoral artery
Identifiers
Latin	vena femoralis
MeSH	A07.231.908.314
Dorlands /Elsevier	v_05/12850355
TA	A12.3.11.023
FMA	21185
Anatomical terminology []

In the human body, the femoral vein is a blood vessel that accompanies the femoral artery in the femoral sheath. It begins at the adductor canal (also known as Hunter's canal) and is a continuation of the popliteal vein. It ends at the inferior margin of the inguinal ligament, where it becomes the external iliac vein.

Several large veins drain into the femoral vein:

Occlusion of the femoral vein can be life-threatening.

The practice of delivering recreational drugs intravenously using the femoral vein is relatively common amongst injecting drug users (IDUs).

The term superficial femoral vein is recognized as a legitimate anatomic term.

However, some specialist physicians (e.g. radiologists, and orthopaedic/vascular surgeons) use the term superficial femoral vein for the distal part of the femoral vein to:

Usage of this term is discouraged by many physicians because it leads to confusion among general medical practitioners.

The femoral vein is considered a deep vein, unlike the adjective superficial suggests and has led some physicians to falsely conclude it is a superficial vein, which has resulted in patients (with deep vein thrombosis) being denied efficacious anticoagulant or thrombolytic therapy.