ABSTRACT
Background and aims: To determine the place of height of origin of profunda femoris artery from the femoral artery with regards to the inguinal ligament. Materials and methods: Routine dissection of 6 formalin fixed cadavers (3 males and 3 females) on both lower limbs (totally 12 lower limbs) allotted for the first year students of Kanyakumari Government Medical College, Aasaripallam, Nagercoil. Result: Among them an unusual origin of profunda femoris artery was observed on the left lower limb in a 60 years old female cadaver (8.33%). The profunda femoris artery arose laterally about 0.5 cms from the femoral artery distal to the inguinal ligament. It arose normally on the right lower limb(3.5 cms from the inguinal ligament). Conclusion: A variance in height of origin of profunda femoris artery and its branches will cause changing in the calibers strongly influencing vascularisation quality of belonging flaps. In occlusion of the superficial femoral artery, the profunda femoris artery forms an effective collateral bed between iliofemoral segment and the popliteal artery and its branches. Percutaneous femoral artery cannulation can cause pseudo aneurysms. When this occurs the puncture site is frequently in the profunda femoris artery, where anatomic relationships make hemostasis difficult to achieve. These complications landed up in the study of relations of these arterial complications in the palpable landmarks.