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What is a Femoral Pulse?

Vanessa Harvey
Vanessa Harvey

A pulse is the rhythmic pulsations produced by a person's beating heart as waves of blood circulate through and expand the arteries of the body. When the artery that is expanded by these rhythmic beats is the femoral artery, the pulsations that can be palpated are referred to as the femoral pulse. The femoral artery is a very large blood vessel that supplies the thigh with oxygenated blood, a fact that causes some people to think that the femoral pulse would be stronger than other pulses of the body. It is, however, the most difficult pulse to locate, and it usually does not feel very strong.

Pulses derive their names from the specific artery that is compressed over a specific bone. For example, the pulse is produced by the femoral artery being compressed over the femur, which is the thigh bone. Although the presence of a pulse is a vital sign, the femoral pulse is hardly ever checked to verify whether someone is alive. The carotid or radial pulse is instead verified as a sign of life. A femoral pulse, however, assures that oxygenated blood is reaching the thigh.

The femoral pulse is produced by the femoral artery, and is the most difficult pulse to locate.
The femoral pulse is produced by the femoral artery, and is the most difficult pulse to locate.

It is correct to say that a person has two femoral pulses, one for each thigh. Pulsations can be palpated in the crease between the abdomen and either side of the groin area depending on which one is being located. If an individual is obese, it generally is extremely difficult to palpate his or her femoral pulse. The femoral artery supplies oxygen-rich blood to the thigh, with the blood coming from the heart, not flowing toward it. The femoral vein is the vessel through which blood returns to the heart.

It will be difficult to palpate the femoral pulse of an obese individual.
It will be difficult to palpate the femoral pulse of an obese individual.

Although it is the thigh that is "fed" blood by this major artery, the lower leg also is nourished, because the artery branches or forks out as it travels down the thigh. When blood vessels branch, however, their names also change. This helps health care providers pinpoint a specific area of the body at any given time. The absence of or the weakness of this pulse would alert health care providers of the need to verify the pulses of the ankle and the foot, because they are distal to the thigh. Cases of severe bleeding from the femoral artery might require pressure to be applied to the area of this pulse to control the bleeding.

Discussion Comments

rfaircloth

The femoral vein can become blocked and this is a medical emergency. My neighbor called us for help at 5am one day a few years ago because she couldn't move her leg or get out of bed. I rushed over and saw her leg swollen, her toes were blue, and the femoral vein was palpable and extremely painful. She was a nurse at the Naval hospital and was taken in immediately. Deep vein thrombosis in the legs can happen with little to no warning and almost 600,000 people die from this yearly. It's worth reading up on.

Roguerrilla
When checking the femoral pulse, the best location is indeed on either side of the groin area. I had a relative who had a procedure called femoropopliteal bypass surgery. This was to treat a severe blockage due to the build up of plaque in the artery. They do have a new, less invasive procedure now that is an angioplasty of the femoral arteries. A way to tell if you may be suffering from a blockage is leg pain, along with cuts or wounds that refuse to heal.
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    • The femoral pulse is produced by the femoral artery, and is the most difficult pulse to locate.
      By: joshya
      The femoral pulse is produced by the femoral artery, and is the most difficult pulse to locate.
    • It will be difficult to palpate the femoral pulse of an obese individual.
      By: Anuska Sampedro
      It will be difficult to palpate the femoral pulse of an obese individual.
    • Unlike the radial pulse, which is measured from the wrist, the femoral pulse is measured from the thigh.
      By: amawasri
      Unlike the radial pulse, which is measured from the wrist, the femoral pulse is measured from the thigh.