ABSTRACT
Continuing the femoral artery’s course after leaving the opening in the adductor magnus muscle tendon, the popliteal artery angles toward the lateral side of the fossa, reaches the middle of the fossa midway through the fossa, and then courses distally between the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle to dive under the tendinous arch of the soleus muscle. The popliteal artery divides into the anterior and posterior tibial arteries after crossing the tendinous arch. The popliteal artery lies deep to the popliteal vein and deep and medial to the tibial nerve in the fossa. The artery lies in near the popliteal surface of the fossa, the knee joint capsule, and the posterior surface of the popliteal muscle. The popliteal fossa is bounded as follows: laterally by the biceps femoris; proximally by the plantaris; distally by the lateral head of the gastrocnemius; and medially by the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and medial head of the gastrocnemius; “the roof is covered by the fascia lata.”
