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Arterial branching pattern of the rabbit femoral artery

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Abstract

Rabbits have highly developed hindlimb muscles, whereas their bones are fragile, thus resulting in frequent hindlimb fractures. To repair these fractures, it is important to understand the arterial branching pattern of the femoral artery, as it provides the main blood supply to the hindlimb. Since the descriptions from prior studies are insufficient, the aim of the present study was to determine the detailed arterial branching pattern of the rabbit femoral artery. Therefore, to address this issue, we examined 30 male and 20 female New Zealand White rabbits after colored latex injections into the femoral artery. Results showed that the femoral artery gave rise to the pudendoepigastric trunk, along with the deep femoral, lateral circumflex femoral, superficial caudal epigastric, saphenous, descending genicular, and proximal and middle caudal femoral arteries, in conjunction with frequent individual variations. In all the observed halves, the last branch from the femoral artery was the distal caudal femoral artery. Individual variations in the branching pattern of these arteries occurred independently in the proximal and the distal portions of the femoral artery, and they were, respectively, categorized into four and three major types based on the number of the branching levels along the proximodistal axis of the femoral artery. The individual variations in the arterial branching pattern of the rabbit femoral artery that were demonstrated in the present study may provide an important anatomical basis for refining the orthopedic surgical procedure in the rabbit.

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Acknowledgements

T. K. was supported by the Program for the Development of Young Researchers from the Discretionary Budget of the Dean of the United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University (H29-5, H30-3, R1-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy, Faculty and Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Tetsuhito Kigata, Yuka Horikawa & Hideshi Shibata

  2. Department of Basic Veterinary Science, United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, 501-5766, Japan

    Tetsuhito Kigata & Hideshi Shibata

  3. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8513, Japan

    Tetsuhito Kigata

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  1. Tetsuhito Kigata
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  2. Yuka Horikawa
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  3. Hideshi Shibata
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Contributions

Study concept and design: T. K. and H. S.; acquisition of data: T. K. and Y. H.; data analysis and interpretation: T. K., Y. H., and H. S.; drafting of the manuscript: T. K. and H. S.; critical revision of the manuscript: H. S.; and approval of the article: T. K., Y. H., and H. S.

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Correspondence to Hideshi Shibata.

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Kigata, T., Horikawa, Y. & Shibata, H. Arterial branching pattern of the rabbit femoral artery. Anat Sci Int 96, 273–285 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-020-00589-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-020-00589-1

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