Popliteal lymph nodes

The popliteal lymph nodes, small in size and some six or seven in number, are embedded in the fat contained in the popliteal fossa, sometimes referred to as the 'knee pit'. One lies immediately beneath the popliteal fascia, near the terminal part of the small saphenous vein, and drains the region from which this vein derives its tributaries, such as superficial regions of the posterolateral aspect of the leg and the plantar aspect of the foot. [1]

Popliteal lymph nodes
Lymph glands of popliteal fossa.
Regional lymph tissue
Details
SystemLymphatic system
Drains todeep inguinal lymph nodes
Identifiers
Latinnodi lymphoidei poplitei
FMA44227
Anatomical terminology

Another is between the popliteal artery and the posterior surface of the knee-joint. It receives afferents from the knee-joint, together with those that accompany the genicular arteries. The others lie at the sides of the popliteal vessels, and receive, as efferents, the trunks that accompany the anterior and posterior tibial vessels.[2]

The efferents of the popliteal lymph nodes pass almost entirely alongside the femoral vessels to the deep inguinal lymph nodes, but a few may accompany the great saphenous vein, and end in the glands of the superficial subinguinal group. The flow of lymph from the legs towards the heart is the result of the calf pump– during walking the calf muscle contracts, squeezing lymph out of the leg via the lymphatic vessels. When the muscle relaxes, valves in the vessels shut preventing the fluid from returning to the lower extremities.[3]

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 701 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

  1. VIII. The Lymphatic System. 5. The Lymphatics of the Lower Extremity, Gray, Henry (1918) Anatomy of the Human Body
  2. "VIII. The Lymphatic System. 5. The Lymphatics of the Lower Extremity. Gray, Henry. 1918. Anatomy of the Human Body".
  3. Jarvis, C. (2004). Physical Examination and Health Assessment (fifth ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier. pp. 530–553. ISBN 9780721697734.
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