Fig. 4.

Photograph showing the anterior view of the proximal part of a right thigh along with the nerve supply to the extensor apparatus of the knee joint. For better visualization of the femoral nerve branches, the sartorius (S) and rectus femoris (R) muscles were transected and elevated. Some nerve branches are identified with black paper. The red pinhead on the right side of the image indicates the middle of the neck of the femur on the intertrochanteric line. The vastus medialis (VM), the medial part of the vastus intermedius (VI), and the articularis genus are innervated by the medial division of the femoral nerve (yellow arrows). One of these terminal branches crosses the medial portion of the vastus intermedius (yellow dotted line), courses distally above the deep layer of the vastus intermedius, and finally branches to the articularis genus and the synovial pouch of the knee joint. This nerve branch (orange arrowheads) is a guide for separating the vastus medialis from the vastus intermedius proximally and the articularis genus inclusive of the deep layer of the vastus intermedius from the superficial layer of the vastus intermedius distally. The nerve branch to the vastus medialis runs along the anteromedial border of the muscle. It separates from the saphenous nerve (Sn) proximally. The green arrows indicate the lateral division of the femoral nerve to the lateral parts of the vastus intermedius, the vastus lateralis (VL), and the tensor vastus intermedius (TVI). Red asterisks = superficial, deep, and lateral circumflex femoral arteries; blue asterisk = superficial femoral vein; and IT = iliotibial tract.