Lateral femoral circumflex artery

circumflex femoral artery
The profunda femoris artery, femoral artery and their major branches - right thigh, anterior view. Circumflex femoral arteries labeled.
Circumpatellar anastomosis. (Descending branch of lateral femoral circumflex visible at upper left.)
Details
Source	deep femoral artery
Identifiers
Latin	Arteria circumflexa femoris lateralis
Dorlands /Elsevier	a_61/12153889
TA	A12.2.16.027
FMA	20798
Anatomical terminology []

The lateral circumflex femoral artery (lateral femoral circumflex artery, external circumflex artery) is an artery in the upper thigh.

The lateral femoral circumflex artery arises from the lateral side of the profunda femoris artery, passes horizontally between the divisions of the femoral nerve, and behind the sartorius and rectus femoris, and divides into ascending, transverse, and descending branches. The lateral femoral circumflex artery may occasionally arise directly from the femoral artery. The artery usually courses anterior to the femoral neck and in between the branches of femoral nerve. A rare variant where the artery passes posterior to the femoral nerve has also been reported which is of great significance to the surgeon.

The lateral circumflex femoral artery has three branches:

The femoral artery.

Labeled arteries of the thigh.

Arteries of the thigh labeled with numbers. The lateral circumflex femoral is labeled as #5.

Lateral circumflex femoral artery

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)