VARIATIONS IN THE BRANCHING PATTERN OF DORSALIS PEDIS ARTERY - A CADAVERIC STUDY

Abstract

The Dorsalispedis artery is an anatomical structure that shows numerous variations in the origin, course and branching pattern as witnessed from several previous studies. Awareness of variations in the vasculature of dorsum of foot is of extreme importance in clinical assessment and surgical procedures of foot. The present study focused mainly on the branching pattern of the artery which showed a great deviation from the standard anatomical description given in textbooks. The study was carried out in 40 cadaveric feet of unknown age and sex for a period of 2 years in Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Sciences, Kulasekharam. The branching pattern of dorsalispedis artery was studied, photographed and documented in detail in all specimens. Variations in the branching pattern were observed in 12 specimens. They were Categorized into eight types of branching patterns. Absence of Arcuate artery and subsequent variations in the origin of dorsal tarsal arteries were found to be the most common variation. Other variations like origin of dorsalispedis artery from perforating branch of peroneal artery, bifurcation and trifurcation of dorsalispedis artery, high origin of arcuate artery was also noted. The deviation from standard description of branching pattern was more evident in this study. Various types of variations were observed in the branching pattern of Dorsalis pedis artery in the current study. A thorough knowledge of potential variations of vascular anatomy of foot is very important for choosing the best procedures in microvascular and reconstructive surgeries on foot.