Adductor canal

The adductor canal extends from the apex of the femoral triangle to the adductor hiatus. It is an intermuscular cleft situated on the medial aspect of the middle third of the anterior compartment of the thigh, and has the following boundaries:

• medial wall - sartorius.
• posterior wall - adductor longus and adductor magnus.
• anterior wall - vastus medialis.

It is covered by a strong aponeurosis which extends from the vastus medialis, across the femoral vessels to the adductor longus and magnus. Lying on the aponeurosis is the sartorius (tailor's) muscle.

The canal contains the femoral artery, femoral vein, and branches of the femoral nerve (specifically, the saphenous nerve, and the nerve to the vastus medialis).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3i_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1072|title=Comprehensive Textbook of Clinical Radiology - Volume III: Chest and Cardiovascular system|author=Amarnath C and Hemant Patel|year=2023|isbn=9788131263617|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=_3i_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1072 Page 1072]{{cite book |author1=Sauerland, Eberhardt K. |author2=Patrick W. Tank |author3=Tank, Patrick W. |title=Grant's dissector |url=https://archive.org/details/grantsdissector00tank_714 |url-access=limited |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |location=Hagerstown, MD |year=2005 |isbn=0-7817-5484-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/grantsdissector00tank_714/page/n141 128]}}{{Citation|last=Sambrook|first=Philip|title=Bone Structure and Function in Normal and Disease States|date=2010-01-01|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702033773000056|work=The Musculoskeletal System (Second Edition)|pages=61–76|editor-last=Sambrook|editor-first=Philip|publisher=Churchill Livingstone|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-7020-3377-3.00005-6|isbn=978-0-7020-3377-3|access-date=2021-02-18|editor2-last=Schrieber|editor2-first=Leslie|editor3-last=Taylor|editor3-first=Thomas|editor4-last=Ellis|editor4-first=Andrew M.}} The femoral artery with its vein and the saphenous nerve enter this canal through the superior foramen. Then, the saphenous nerve and artery and vein of genus descendens exit through the anterior foramen, piercing the vastoadductor intermuscular septum. Finally, the femoral artery and vein exit via the inferior foramen (usually called the hiatus) through the inferior space between the oblique and medial heads of adductor magnus.{{cite book |author =А.В. Николаев. |title=Топографическая анатомия и оперативная хирургия. |publisher= ГЭОТАР-Медиа (GEOTAR-Media) |location=Москва |year=2007 |isbn=978-5-9704-1207-7 |pages=174–176}}

The saphenous nerve may be compressed in the adductor canal.{{Citation|last=Zhang|first=Yi|title=27 - Lower Extremity: Saphenous Nerve Block|date=2011-01-01|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781416037798100272|work=Pain Procedures in Clinical Practice (Third Edition)|pages=267–270|editor-last=Lennard|editor-first=Ted A.|place=Saint Louis|publisher=Hanley & Belfus|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-1-4160-3779-8.10027-2|isbn=978-1-4160-3779-8|access-date=2021-02-18|editor2-last=Walkowski|editor2-first=Stevan|editor3-last=Singla|editor3-first=Aneesh K.|editor4-last=Vivian|editor4-first=David G.}} The adductor canal may be accessed for a saphenous nerve block, often used to treat pain caused by this compression.

The eponym "Hunter's canal" is named for John Hunter.{{WhoNamedIt|synd|105}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/part_3/chapter_15.html#chpt_15_adductor_canal |title=CHAPTER 15: THE THIGH AND KNEE |access-date=2008-01-27 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080121162834/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/part_3/chapter_15.html| archive-date= 21 January 2008 | url-status= live}}

File:Slide6FFFFF.JPG|Adductor canal

File:Slide6JJJJ.JPG|Adductor canal

{{Gray's}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|12|07|01|03}} - "Anterior and Medial Thigh Region: Sartorius Muscle and the Adductor Canal"
• {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|12|08|01|05}} - "Anterior and Medial Thigh Region: Structures of the Adductor Canal"

{{Muscles of lower limb}}

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Category:Anatomy