A study of the variation of the popliteal artery branching pattern among male medical undergraduate students in IIUM Kuantan

Abstract

A wide range of variations can be seen in the vascular system of an adult human lower limb. One of the important blood vessels that has been mentioned in the literature is popliteal artery. Popliteal artery injury is frequently associated with lower limb trauma or surgical procedures involving the knee joint and popliteal fossa. Therefore, knowledge regarding the branching patterns of popliteal artery is essential because any damage to its branches can be life- or limb-threatening. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of popliteal artery variations in healthy subjects. Furthermore, we would also like to determine the symmetrical characteristic of variations in the same individual, and the correlation between luminal diameter of popliteal artery and specific parameters. This is the first study done in Malaysia on popliteal artery variations in vivo using colour Doppler ultrasonography. One hundred and fifty four lower limbs (77 subjects of male medical undergraduate students of International Islamic University Malaysia) were examined during this study. The area of interest was the popliteal fossa. Among them, 4.5% (seven cases) were found to possess variants. The two variants encountered in this study were Type I-B or trifurcation of popliteal artery 1.9% (three cases), and Type II-A or high-origin anterior tibial artery 2.6% (four cases). With regard to the variants of popliteal artery branching pattern, two subjects had Type II-A occurred bilaterally while three other subjects had unilateral characteristic of Type I-B in combination with Type I-A. It was found that luminal diameter of popliteal artery increased with body surface area and calf circumference in both dominant and non-dominant legs respectively (p<0.001). In conclusion, popliteal artery showed variations in branching pattern, and its diameter increases with body surface area and calf circumference.