468.As a third year medical student on cardiology service you receive a
transfer patient from the emergency room. The 52-year-old woman is hav-
ing chest pain and her cardiac enzymes and ECG suggest that she may have
had a Myocardial infarction. The attending cardiologist is about to perform
a cardiac catherization to inject dye into her coronary arteries. He tells you
to prepare her right inguinal region for insertion of the catheter into her
femoral artery. The attending cardiologist asks, “what are the landmarks for
finding the femoral artery just under the inguinal ligament and what is on
each side of it if you miss?” Which of the following is the best answer?
a. Half way between the anterior superior iliac spine and the pubic tubercle, with
the femoral nerve medial and the femoral vein lateral to the femoral artery
b. Half way between the anterior superior iliac spine and the pubic tubercle, with
the femoral nerve lateral and the femoral vein medial to the femoral artery
c. Two-thirds of the way between the anterior superior iliac spine and the pubic
tubercle, with the femoral nerve lateral and the femoral vein medial to the
femoral artery
d. Half way between the anterior inferior iliac spine and the pubic tubercle, with
the femoral nerve medial and the femoral vein lateral to the femoral artery
e. Half way between the anterior inferior iliac spine and the pubic tubercle, with
the femoral nerve lateral and the femoral vein medial to the femoral artery
Extremities and Spine 567