Origin

The medial femoral circumflex artery arises from the posteromedial aspect of the profunda femoris artery.^[1]

The medial femoral circumflex artery may occasionally arise directly from the femoral artery.^{[citation needed]}

Course and relations

It winds around the medial side of the femur^[1] to pass along the posterior aspect of the femur.^[3] It first passes between the pectineus and the iliopsoas muscles, then between the obturator externus and the adductor brevis muscles.^[1]

Branches

At the upper border of the adductor brevis it gives off two branches:^[1]

• The ascending branch
• The descending branch descends beneath the adductor brevis, to supply it and the adductor magnus; the continuation of the vessel passes backward and divides into superficial, deep, and acetabular branches.
  • The superficial branch
  • The deep branch
  • The acetabular branch

Distribution

The medial femoral circumflex artery (with its branches) supplies arterial blood to several muscles, including: the adductor muscles of the hip, gracilis muscle,^[1][3] pectineus muscle,^[3] and external obturator muscle.^[1] It delivers most of the arterial supply to the femoral head and femoral neck via branches - the posterior retinacular arteries.^[4]