Lateral compartment of the leg

Dr Craig Hacking ◉ ◈ et al.

The lateral compartment of the leg, also know as the peroneal compartment, is one of the four compartments in the leg between the knee and foot. Muscles within this compartment primarily produce ankle and foot eversion.

The leg is separated into anterior, lateral, superficial posterior and deep posterior compartments by intermuscular septa and surrounded by the deep fascia of the leg.

Gross anatomy

Boundaries

anteriorly: anterior intermuscular septum
posteriorly: posterior intermuscular septum
medially: fibula (peroneal surface)
laterally: deep fascia of the leg

Contents

Muscles

Blood supply

arterial supply: perforating branches of the anterior tibial artery and peroneal artery
venous drainage
- superficial: veins drain into small saphenous vein
- deep: fibular veins drain into posterior tibial vein

Innervation

superficial peroneal nerve

References

Anatomy: Lower limb

skeleton of the lower limb
joints
- hip joint
  - ligaments
  - additional structures
  - ossification centers
- knee joint
- tibiofibular joints
  - proximal tibiofibular joint
  - distal tibiofibular syndesmosis
    - ligaments
      - anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
        accessory anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
      - posterior inferior tibiofibular ligament
- ankle joint
  - regional anatomy
    - medial ankle
    - lateral ankle
    - anterior ankle
  - ligaments
    - medial collateral (deltoid) ligament
    - lateral collateral ligament
    - additional structures
    - ankle bursae
      - retrocalcaneal bursa
      - subcutaneous calcaneal bursa
    - ossification centers of the ankle
  - variants
    - ball and socket ankle joint
- foot joints
  - subtalar joint
    - articulations
      - talocalcaneal joint
    - ligaments
    - associated structures
  - mid-tarsal (Chopart) joint
    - talonavicular joint
    - calcaneocuboid joint
  - tarsometatarsal (Lisfranc) joint
    - ligaments
      - Lisfranc ligament
  - intermetatarsal joint
  - metatarsophalangeal joint
  - interphalangeal joint
spaces of the lower limb
- adductor canal
- femoral sheath
  - femoral canal
    - femoral ring
- femoral triangle (contents mnemonic | boundaries mnemonic)
- foot subdivisions
- popliteal fossa (mnemonic)
- tarsal tunnel (mnemonic)
- triangular space of cruciate ligaments
muscles of the lower limb
- muscles of the pelvic group
  - inner hip group
    - iliopsoas muscle
  - gluteal region
    - gluteal muscles
    - tensor fasciae latae muscle
  - lateral rotator group
- muscles of the thigh
- muscles of the leg
  - anterior compartment of the leg
  - posterior compartments of the leg
    - superficial posterior compartment of the leg (calf)
      - triceps surae
        
        medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle
        
        soleus muscle
        accessory soleus muscle
      - plantaris muscle
      - calcaneal tendon
    - deep posterior compartment of the leg
  - lateral compartment of the leg
    - peroneus brevis muscle
    - peroneus longus muscle
- muscles of the foot
  - dorsal muscles
    - extensor hallucis brevis muscle
    - extensor digitorum brevis muscle
  - plantar muscles
    - 1st layer
    - 2nd layer
      - quadratus plantae muscle
      - lumbrical muscles
    - 3rd layer
    - 4th layer
      - dorsal interossei muscles
      - plantar interossei muscles
- accessory muscles
  - accessory peroneal muscles
vascular supply
- arterial supply of the lower limb
- venous drainage of the lower limb
  - deep system
    - common femoral vein
      - femoral vein
        
        deep femoral vein
        
        popliteal vein
        
        peroneal vein
        
        posterior tibial vein
        
        anterior tibial vein
  - superficial system
    - great saphenous vein
      - dorsal venous plexus
    - small saphenous vein
      - vein of Giacomini
innervation of the lower limb
- lumbar plexus (mnemonic)
  - femoral nerve
    - saphenous nerve
  - obturator nerve
- sacral plexus
  - sciatic nerve (motor distribution)
    - common peroneal nerve
      - superficial peroneal nerve
      - deep peroneal nerve
    - tibial nerve
lymphatics

Article information

rID: 40345

System: Musculoskeletal

Section: Anatomy

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

Peroneal compartment of the leg
Peroneal compartment
Lateral compartment of leg

Support Radiopaedia and see fewer ads

Cases and figures

Figure 1: Lower leg axial section - Gray's anatomy illustrationFigure 1: Lower leg axial section - Gray's anatomy illustration

Drag here to reorder.

Updating… Please wait.

Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

Thank you for updating your details.