Lower limb
Descending genicular artery
Arteria genus descendens
- Origin
- Arises from the femoral artery just before passing through the adductor hiatus
- Insertion
- Descends in the adductor canal dividing into a saphenous branch (accompanying saphenous nerve) and articular branches to the knee rete
- Function
- Supplies the medial knee joint capsule, vastus medialis, and medial knee skin
- Innervation
- Sympathetic vasomotor fibers
- Movement & chain
- Accommodates medial knee flexion-extension tension
- Palpation
- Not palpable through deep fascial layers
- Clinical
- Key collateral bypass around the knee; vascular pedicle for the medial femoral condyle (MFC) corticoperiosteal free flap
- Segmental innervation
- L3–L4 spinal segments
- In clinical practice
- Workhorse pedicle in orthopedic microsurgery for treating resistant scaphoid and long-bone nonunions
- Region in the model
- Lower limb