2006 Volume 82 Issue 4 Pages 117-126
This study was performed to investigate causes of various types of topographical relationship between the lateral circumflex femoral artery (L) and the saphenous nerve (S).
Femoral artery (F), deep femoral artery (P), L and S of 186 legs of 93 Japanese adult cadavers were submitted to anatomy. Further, the levels of origin of L in thigh were measured.
L were classified into nine types by the origins of L and topographical relationship between L and S.
The incidence of various types of L is different among researchers. Our findings proved that these differences were caused by the differences in evaluations of twig from ascending branch (AB) or descending branch (DB) of L.
In cases of L originating from F, incidence of L positioned in front of S is significantly higher than L originating from P (p<0.01). In cases of L originating from F, L positioned in front of S originates from F at the significantly more proximal level compared to L positioned posterior to S (p<0.001). Furthermore, also in cases of L originating from P, L positioned in front of S originates from P at the significantly more proximal level compared to L positioned posterior to S (p<0.001). It is supposed that the topographical relationship between L and S changes depending on the artery where L originates and the level of origin of L.
