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Posterior tibial vein: anatomy, location and function

Paired deep veins accompanying the posterior tibial artery. They drain the posterior compartment of the leg and the sole.

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Highlighted in the model: Posterior tibial vein. 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.

Posterior tibial vein at a glance

What it is
Paired deep veins accompanying the posterior tibial artery.
Location
They arise behind the medial malleolus from the plantar veins, ascend with the artery and unite with the anterior tibial veins to form the popliteal vein.
Function
They drain the posterior compartment of the leg and the sole.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA44339 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Clinical relevance

They are common sites of deep vein thrombosis.

Structures next to the posterior tibial vein

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Posterior tibial vein (FMA44339). 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.