Medial plantar artery

The medial plantar artery ( "inner soles artery ") is an artery of the foot.

Man

In humans, the plantar artery is posterior medial of the weaker of the two branches of the tibial artery. It runs - together with their side adjacent medial plantar nerve - on the inside edge of the sole of the foot to the toes basis. Your initial section is at the abductor hallucis covered, from the height of the first cuneiform, it is between this muscle and the flexor hallucis brevis. It supplies the skin and muscles of the inside of the foot.

On the first metatarsal, the medial plantar artery divides into a deep ( deep branch ) and superficial branch ( ramus superficialis ). The deep branch participates in the deep plantar arch ( deep plantar arch ). The superficial branch pulls on the tendon of the abductor hallucis to the big toe. His behavior is very variable: It can replace branches to the plantar metatarsal arteries first three, received an anastomosis with the artery plantaris hallucis or as a whole or with the lateral plantar artery, a superficial plantar arch ( arcus plantaris superficialis ) form. A superficial plantar arch occurs in approximately one quarter of the individuals.

Comparative Anatomy

In animals, the artery medial plantar is the stronger of the two branches of the ramus caudalis of the arteria saphena. It feeds the superficial plantar arterial system ( arteries plantar digital communes), her deep branch forms a tributary to the deep plantar arch and participates in it - albeit to a lesser extent - on the blood supply of the hind foot.