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Lateral tarsal artery: anatomy, location and function

A small branch of the dorsalis pedis artery on the lateral side of the dorsum of the foot. It supplies the tarsal bones, joints and extensor digitorum brevis on the lateral foot.

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Highlighted in the model: Lateral tarsal artery. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Lateral tarsal artery at a glance

What it is
A small branch of the dorsalis pedis artery on the lateral side of the dorsum of the foot.
Location
It arises from the dorsalis pedis artery, runs laterally under the extensor digitorum brevis, and anastomoses with the arcuate and lateral plantar arteries.
Function
It supplies the tarsal bones, joints and extensor digitorum brevis on the lateral foot.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA69491 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It contributes to the arterial network around the ankle and foot.

Structures next to the lateral tarsal artery

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Lateral tarsal artery (FMA69491). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.