Patellar network

The patellar network (anastomosis around the knee-joint, patellar anastomosis, genicular anastomosis or Articular Vascular Network Of Knee^[1]) is an intricate network of vessels around and above the patella, and on the contiguous ends of the femur and tibia, forming a superficial and a deep plexus.

• The superficial plexus is situated between the fascia and skin around about the patella, and forms three well-defined arches: one, above the upper border of the patella, in the loose connective tissue over the Quadriceps femoris; the other two, below the level of the patella, are situated in the fat behind the ligamentum patellæ.

• The deep plexus, which forms a close net-work of vessels, lies on the lower end of the femur and upper end of the tibia around their articular surfaces, and sends numerous offsets into the interior of the joint.

The arteries which form this plexus are the inferior medial and superior medial genicular arteries, the inferior lateral and superior lateral genicular arteries, the descending genicular artery, the descending branch of lateral femoral circumflex artery, and the anterior tibial recurrent artery.

Clinical relevance

The Genicular anastomosis provides collateral circulation to supply the leg when the knee is fully flexed^[2].

When the knee suffers a popliteal aneurysm. If the femoral artery has to be ligated surgically, blood can still reach the popliteal artery distal to the ligation via the genicular anastomosis.^[2]

External links

• Definition of Genicular Anastomosis at medilexicon.com

References

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.