The anterior compartment of the leg is a fascial compartment of the lower

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

. It contains muscles that produce

dorsiflexion Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relativ ...

and participate in inversion and eversion of the foot, as well as vascular and nervous elements, including the

anterior tibial artery The anterior tibial artery is an artery of the leg. It carries blood to the anterior compartment of the leg and dorsal surface of the foot, from the popliteal artery. Structure Course The anterior tibial artery is a branch of the poplitea ...

and

veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated ...

and the

deep fibular nerve The deep fibular nerve (also known as deep peroneal nerve) begins at the bifurcation of the common fibular nerve between the fibula and upper part of the fibularis longus, passes infero-medially, deep to the extensor digitorum longus, to the ante ...

Muscles

The muscles of the compartment are: * tibialis anterior * extensor hallucis longus *

extensor digitorum longus The extensor digitorum longus is a pennate muscle, situated at the lateral part of the front of the leg. Origin and insertion It arises from the lateral condyle of the tibia; from the upper three-quarters of the anterior surface of the body of ...

* fibularis (peroneus) tertius

Function

The compartment contains muscles that are

dorsiflexors Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relativ ...

and participate in inversion and eversion of the foot.

Innervation and blood supply

The anterior compartment of the leg is supplied by the

(deep peroneal nerve), a branch of the common fibular nerve. The nerve contains

axons An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis), or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences), is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action p ...

from the L4, L5, and S1 spinal nerves. Blood for the compartment is supplied by the

, which runs between the tibialis anterior and

muscles. When the artery crosses the extensor retinaculum, it changes its name to

dorsalis pedis artery In human anatomy, the dorsalis pedis artery (dorsal artery of foot) is a blood vessel of the lower limb. It arises from the anterior tibial artery, and ends at the first intermetatarsal space (as the first dorsal metatarsal artery and the deep pl ...

Additional images

File:Anterior compartment of leg - animation.gif, Anterior compartment. Animation.

Muscles

Function

Innervation and blood supply

Additional images

Notes and references

See also