Topographic relationship of the ventromedial lymphatic bundle and the superficial inguinal nodes to the subcutaneous veins

The relationships between lymph vessels and veins are of clinical importance for the prevention of injury to collectors and resulting edema after removal of veins. Injection preparations of the lymph vessels and veins showed that on the dorsum of the foot the collectors overcross the veins; however, in all remaining areas they undercross them. Only the great saphenous vein is overcrossed by lymph collectors. It also has accompanying lymph vessels but its vascular sheath, however, does not contain any lymph vessels. The position of the collectors depends on the thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue. On the dorsum of the foot the lymphatics are often closely bound up with the corium; on the lower leg, however, they are embedded in the adipose tissue. Some collectors are closely related to perforator veins. In the knee region the lymph bundle ascends dorsomedially to the medial condylus of the femur. On the thigh, where the subcutaneous fatty tissue is thick, the collectors from three layers. The superficial inguinal lymph nodes draining the leg and the external genitalia are situated around the saphenous opening and are closely related to the subinguinal venous star, so that in surgical intervention the collectors of this region are more exposed to danger than in other regions.