A rare variation of trifurcation of right femoral artery

The femoral artery, the primary artery of thigh is continuation of external iliac artery. The anatomical knowledge of variations of femoral artery and its branches is important as it is frequently accessed by surgeons and radiologists. The femoral artery is generally preferred and easily accessible for catheterization in number of investigations and angiographies. The awareness of variation in height of origin of profunda femoris artery and the distribution of its branches is of great importance. Knowledge of variation of lateral circumflex femoral artery is important when undertaking clinical procedures in the femoral region and hip joint replacement. It can be used as an anterolateral thigh flap in coronary artery bypass grafting. The lateral circumflex femoral artery flap is used for the reconstruction of large defects in the face secondary to gunshot wounds. During the routine dissections for the undergraduate students batch 2011–2012 in Guntur Medical College, on a middle-aged male cadaver we noticed a rare variation of trifurcation of femoral artery. The trifurcation was approximately 7 mm below the inguinal ligament. The trifurcating arteries were lateral circumflex femoral artery, femoral artery, profunda femoris artery. Lateral circumflex femoral artery with an external diameter of 5 mm, further tracing down branching in to ascending, transverse, descending and muscular arteries. The femoral artery had the usual course and continued as popliteal artery and external diameter was 9 mm. The profunda femoris artery was medially separated from femoral artery first laid lateral to femoral vein and passed downwards giving origin to medial circumflex femoral artery, 3 perforating arteries, 2 nutrient arteries and continued as 4th perforating artery.