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Popliteal fossa

Depression at back of knee joint

Summary

Depression at back of knee joint

FieldValue
NamePopliteal fossa
Latinfossa poplitea
CaptionBack view of a human. Locations of the popliteal fossae are circled in blue
Width150
Image2Sobo 1909 718.png
Caption2Popliteal fossa of the right leg.

The popliteal fossa (also referred to as hough or kneepit in analogy to the cubital fossa) is a shallow depression located at the back of the knee joint. The bones of the popliteal fossa are the femur and the tibia. Like other flexion surfaces of large joints (groin, armpit, cubital fossa and essentially the anterior part of the neck), it is an area where blood vessels and nerves pass relatively superficially, and with an increased number of lymph nodes.

Structure

Boundaries

The boundaries of the fossa are:

MedialLateralSuperiorInferior
the semimembranosus & semitendinosus musclesthe biceps femoris muscle
the medial head of the gastrocnemius musclethe lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle and plantaris muscle

Roof

Moving from superficial to deep structures, the roof is formed by:

  1. the skin.
  2. the superficial fascia. This contains the small saphenous vein, the terminal branch of the posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh, posterior division of the medial cutaneous nerve, lateral sural cutaneous nerve, and medial sural cutaneous nerve.
  3. the popliteal fascia.

Floor

The floor is formed by:

  1. the popliteal surface of the femur.
  2. the capsule of the knee joint and the oblique popliteal ligament.
  3. strong fascia covering the popliteus muscle.

Contents

Structures within the popliteal fossa include, (from superficial to deep):

  • tibial nerve
  • common fibular nerve (also known as the common peroneal nerve)
  • popliteal vein
  • popliteal artery, a continuation of the femoral artery
  • small saphenous vein (termination)
  • Popliteal lymph nodes and vessels

It is of note that the common fibular nerve also begins at the superior angle of the popliteal fossa.

Additional images

File:Gray434.png|Muscles of the gluteal and posterior femoral regions. File:Gray582.png|Small saphenous vein and its tributaries. File:Gray551.png|The popliteal, posterior tibial, and peroneal arteries. File:Gray832.png|Nerves of the right lower extremity. Posterior view. File:Slide2DADE.JPG|Muscles of thigh. Lateral view.

References

References

  1. Buckenmaier III C. (2008). "Chapter 20: Popliteal nerve block". Defense & Veterans Pain Management Initiative (DVPMI).
  2. (2013-04-01). "Surgical anatomy & pathology of the popliteal fossa". Orthopaedics and Trauma.
  3. Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Moore, 6th edition
  4. "The Popliteal Fossa - Borders - Contents - TeachMeAnatomy".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

lower-limb-anatomy knee
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