Trigonum femorale

The femoral triangle (or Scarpa's triangle) is an anatomical region of the upper third of the thigh. It is a subfascial space which appears as a triangular depression below the inguinal ligament when the thigh is flexed, abducted and laterally rotated.Front and medial aspect of right thigh.Borders of the femoral triangle of the Visible Human Male.Contents of the femoral triangle of the Visible Human Male. The femoral triangle (or Scarpa's triangle) is an anatomical region of the upper third of the thigh. It is a subfascial space which appears as a triangular depression below the inguinal ligament when the thigh is flexed, abducted and laterally rotated. The femoral triangle is bounded: The apex of the triangle is continuous with the adductor canal.The roof is formed by the skin, superficial fascia, and deep fascia (fascia lata). The superficial fascia contains the superficial inguinal lymph nodes, femoral branch of the genitofemoral nerve, branches of the ilioinguinal nerve, superficial branches of the femoral artery with accompanying veins, and upper part of the great saphenous vein. The deep fascia has a saphenous opening and the opening is covered by the cribiform fascia. Its floor is formed by the pectineus and adductor longus muscles medially and iliopsoas muscle laterally. The femoral triangle is important as a number of vital structures pass through it, right under the skin. The following structures are contained within the femoral triangle (from lateral to medial): Femoral sheath encloses the upper 4 cm of the femoral vessels. Its contents are shown below (from lateral to medial): Since the femoral triangle provides easy access to a major artery, coronary angioplasty and peripheral angioplasty is often performed by entering the femoral artery at the femoral triangle. Heavy bleeding in the leg can be stopped by applying pressure to points in the femoral triangle. Another clinical significance of the femoral triangle is that the femoral artery is positioned at the midinguinal point (midpoint between the pubic symphysis and the anterior superior iliac spine); medial to it lies the femoral vein. Thus the femoral vein, once located, allows for femoral venipuncture.. Femoral venopuncture is useful when there are no superficial veins that can be aspirated in a patient, in the case of collapsed veins in other parts of body (e.g. arms). The positive pulsation of the femoral artery signifies that the heart is beating and also blood is flowing to the lower extremity. It is also necessary to appreciate clinically that this is a case where the nerve is more lateral than the vein. In most other cases the nerve (relative to its associated artery and vein) would be the deepest or more medial followed by the artery and then the vein. But in this case it is the opposite. This must be remembered when venous or arterial samples are required from the femoral vessels. This area contains the superficial and deep basins of the inguinal lymph nodes, and is the location targeted in an inguinal lymphadenectomy. The basins are separated by the fascia lata. For patients with palpable nodal disease, removal of the superficial and deep basins are recommended. In a patient with a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy, generally only the superficial nodes are removed, unless Cloquet's node (the most superior of the deep nodes) is clinically positive.