20th February 2024

Lower limb

The venous drainage of the foot starts with the dorsal venous arch dorsally, with the medial and lateral plantar veins located on the plantar aspect. The dorsal venous arch will travel deep into the leg to form the anterior tibial vein. The medial and lateral plantar veins will combine to form the posterior tibial and the fibular veins. All three veins will unite to form the popliteal vein.

As it travels up the leg through the adductor canal, this becomes the femoral vein. The thigh muscles will drain via the deep vein of the thigh, and it will empty into the femoral vein. As the femoral vein travels past the inguinal canal, it becomes the external iliac vein. 

Superficial veins are also found in the lower limb and are made of great saphenous and small saphenous veins. The great saphenous vein originates from the dorsal venous arch of the foot and travels superiorly past the medial malleolus and medial condyle of the femur. This empties into the femoral vein inferior to the inguinal ligament. The small saphenous vein travels past the lateral malleolus along the two heads of the gastrocnemius muscle to empty into the popliteal vein via the popliteal fossa. 

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (2013). 2137 Lower Limb Veins Chart, Licensed under a creative commons licence. Available for free at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/2137_Lower_Limb_Veins_Chart.jpg (Accessed: 9 January 2024).

The superior and inferior gluteal veins will drain gluteal structures and will drain into the internal iliac vein.