Femoral triangle

The femoral triangle (a.k.a. Scarpa’s triangle) is a triangular subfascial space which is situated in the upper thigh, underneath the inguinal ligament. The space has got borders, a floor, a roof and contains important structures.

Boundaries: The femoral triangle is bounded by adductor longus muscle medially, sartorius laterally and the inguinal ligament that forms the base of the triangle. The apex–formed by intersection of adductor longus and sartorius–is directed downwards. It becomes continuous with the adductor canal and leads the contents of the adductor canal (i.e. the femoral vessels) into the popliteal fossa through a hiatus in the adductor magnus muscle.

Floor: The floor of femoral triangle comprises of several muscles (from lateral to medial) including iliacus and psoas major (a.k.a. iliopsoas), pectineus and adductor longus muscles.

Roof: The roof of femoral triangle–from superficial to deep–comprises of skin, superficial and deep fascia (the facia lata).

Contents: From lateral to medial, the contents of femoral triangle include femoral nerve, femoral artery, femoral vein and a femoral canal. The latter is an empty space containing lymphatics. The femoral artery, vein and femoral canal are together bounded by a sleeve of fascia–the femoral sheath–while the femoral nerve lies outside the femoral sheath and lateral to it. Please note that the femoral canal is a potential weak point in the lower abdomen and can lead to femoral hernias.