ANATOMIC STUDY OF THE DEEP PLANTER ARTERY - POTENTIAL BYPASS RECEPTOR-SITE

The deep plantar artery is the main anastomosis between the dorsal and plantar arterial systems of the foot; with no change of calibre it un ites the dorsalis pedis artery to the deep plantar arch, the second se gment of the lateral plantar artery, passing into the first intermetat arsal space. Our anatomic study of 20 dissections of the deep plantar artery allowed us to verify the near-constancy of its descriptive anat omy and relationships. The deep plantar artery, when present, only fou nd in 16 of our 20 cases, is totally linked to the dorsalis pedis arte ry. Its easy accessibility via the dorsal route, its medium calibre an d the absence of collateral branches make this artery a possible anato mic site for the performance of a distal bypass, the last option befor e an amputation of the foot becomes necessary, although such a case re mains exceptional.