Lymph Vessels of the Bones of the Pelvic Limbs

The lymph vessels of the bones of the pelvic limbs mostly drain to both the medial iliac lymph node and the popliteal lymph node, as well as to a lesser extent to the hypogastric, the lateral sacral, the deep inguinal and the medial femoral lymph nodes. However, since the latter 3 lymph nodes only rarely occur, this finding is not that important. The lymph vessels of the individual bones drain as follows:

Those of the pelvis drain to the medial iliac, hypogastric, and lateral sacral lymph nodes, those of the femur drain to the medial iliac, hypogastric, and deep inguinal lymph nodes, those of the patella drain to the medial iliac, medial femoral, and deep inguinal lymph nodes, those of the fibula drain to the medial iliac, popliteal, and deep inguinal lymph nodes, those of the tibia and the tarsal and metatarsal bones drain to the medial iliac, popliteal, medial femoral, and deep inguinal lymph nodes, and those of the phalanges drain to the popliteal lymph node.