Quick Facts
Origin: The popliteal artery within the popliteal fossa.
Course: The medial and lateral sural arteries extend medially or laterally along the posterior aspect of the knee joint.
Branches: Muscular branches.
Supplied Structures: Medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle and the plantaris muscle.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The sural arteries arise from the popliteal artery within the popliteal fossa. The sural arteries are paired branches that arise between the superior genicular arteries and the middle genicular artery.
Course
The medial sural artery extends medially along the posterior aspect of the knee joint, deep to the medial head of the gastrocnemius.
The lateral sural artery extends laterally along the oblique popliteal ligament where it crosses over the tibial nerve. The plantaris and the lateral head of gastrocnemius sit over the lateral sural artery.
Branches
The sural arteries give off small muscular branches.
Supplied Structures
The sural arteries contribute to the supply of the superficial muscles of the posterior compartment of the leg.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Artery
Arteries are vessels transporting blood between heart, tissues, and other organs in order to supply them with nutrition and oxygen.
