Nutrient artery

Nutrient artery
The blood supply to long bones, here with nutrient arteries labeled.
A nutrient artery feeding the femur seen on X-ray
Details
Identifiers
Latin	Arteria nutricia, arteria nutriens
TA	A12.0.00.004
FMA	50779
Anatomical terminology []

The medullary or nutrient artery (arteria nutricia), usually accompanied by one or two veins, sends branches upward and downward to the bone marrow, which ramify in the medullary membrane, and give twigs to the adjoining canals. Nutrient arteries are the most apparent blood vessels of the bones.

All bones possess larger or smaller foramina for the entrance of the nourishing blood-vessels; these are known as the nutrient foramina, and are particularly large in the shafts of the larger long bones, where they lead into a nutrient canal, which extends into the medullary cavity.

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

This article incorporates text from a public domain edition of Sobotta's Anatomy.