Blood vesselArtery

Popliteal artery

Latin: Arteria poplitea sinistra

Location: Knee

Paired structure: one on the left and one on the right side of the body.

View the popliteal artery in 3D

Course

Continues the femoral through the adductor hiatus into the popliteal fossa's fat, lying deepest of the fossa's contents against the knee capsule, then divides below the knee into anterior and posterior tibial arteries.

Branches

Genicular branches to the knee's anastomotic ring; terminal tibial divisions.

Clinical relevance

Palpated deep in the popliteal fossa with the knee flexed; popliteal aneurysm — the commonest peripheral aneurysm — thromboses or embolises to the foot, and its pulse is the angiographer's starting point for distal run-off.

Related conditions

Educational anatomy reference, not medical advice. About this content.