Purpose
The Adductor Canal (also known as Hunter’s Canal or subsartorial canal) is a relevant anatomical region with many clinical implications. In particular, the adductor canal hiatus is a preferential site for the development of vascular atherosclerotic lesions and may play a role in the pathophysiology of two different (vascular and nervous) entrapment syndromes. In recent years, after the clinical introduction of new sonographic equipment which achieved an effective visualization of peripheral nerves, the Hunter’s canal ultrasound (US) anatomy has been revisited by anesthesiologists in order...
Methods and Materials
We assessed 20 canals (both thighs of 10 healthy volunteers) with an ultrasound scanner equipped with an high resolution linear broadband array (5-12 Mhz) transducer, provided with compound and image optimization software (MyLab™70 XVG, Esaote, Genoa, Italy). All examinations were performed with the patient supine and the leg in external rotation, using a set of scans on axial, axial oblique and coronal oblique planesThe assessment of the adductor canal has been completed with color-Doppler module.
Results
The first scan was performed on an axial plane at the apex of the Scarpa’s triangle, where the sartorius muscle crosses anteriorly the superficial femoral artery. The superficial femoral artery origins in the femoral triangle (Scarpa's triangle), 2 to 5 cm distally to the inguinal ligament, where the common femoral artery bifurcates originating the deep femoral artery. Then, the superficial femoral artery enters the adductors’ canal, which is in continuity with the apex of the Scarpa's triangle. The division of the common femoral artery was...
Conclusion
Neurovascular bundles are often located inside conical or tubular pathways in the human body, which are muscular, osseous, fibrous or mixed in nature. The adductor canal, firstly described by John Hunter in 1786, is a fibromuscular canal which contains the superficial femoral vessels and saphenous nerve along with a variable amount of fibrous tissue [1]. This aponeurotic tunnel is located in the middle third of the thigh and runs from the apex of the femoral triangle (Scarpa’s triangle) to an opening in adductor magnus through...
References
1) de Oliveira F, de Vasconcellos Fontes RB, da Silva Baptista J, Mayer WP, de Campos Boldrini S, Liberti EA. The connective tissue of the adductor canal--a morphological study in fetal and adult specimens. J Anat. 2009 Mar;214(3):388-95.2) de Souza RR, de Carvalho CA, König B Jr. Topographical anatomy of adductor canal: form, limits and constitution of its walls. Rev Paul Med. 1978 Jul-Aug;92(1-2):6-9.3) Morganti CM, McFarland EG, Cosgarea AJ. Saphenous neuritis: a poorly understood cause of medial knee pain. J Am Acad Orthop Surg....
