Item	Femoral Canal	Inguinal Canal
📍 Location	Most medial compartment of the femoral sheath, below the inguinal ligament, medial to femoral vein.	Oblique passage in the lower anterior abdominal wall, running from deep inguinal ring to superficial ring, above the inguinal ligament.
🧱 Boundaries (walls)	Anterior (roof): Inguinal ligament Posterior (floor): Pectineal (Cooper’s) ligament over pectineus fascia Medial: Lacunar ligament Lateral: Femoral vein	Anterior wall: External oblique aponeurosis (+ internal oblique laterally) Posterior wall: Transversalis fascia, reinforced medially by conjoint tendon Roof: Arching fibres of internal oblique & transversus abdominis Floor: Inguinal ligament (medially reinforced by lacunar ligament)
🎒 Contents	Lymphatics & areolar tissue only (incl. deep inguinal node of Cloquet) + fat. ➜ Allows femoral vein to expand. (Femoral artery/vein/nerve are not* in the canal; artery/vein lie in adjacent femoral sheath compartments; nerve is outside the sheath.)*	Both sexes: Ilioinguinal nerve (sensory; runs in part of the canal), genital branch of genitofemoral nerve (within cord in males). Males: Spermatic cord and contents. Females: Round ligament of the uterus.
🚨 Clinical	Femoral hernia: passes through femoral canal, inferolateral to pubic tubercle, below inguinal ligament, medial to femoral vein. Higher risk of strangulation (rigid borders).	Inguinal hernia: above inguinal ligament; Indirect via deep ring (lateral to inferior epigastrics), Direct through Hesselbach’s triangle (medial to inferior epigastrics).
🧭 Surface anatomy tips	Femoral pulse just below inguinal ligament, midway ASIS→pubic tubercle; canal is medial to this (medial to vein).	Superficial ring superolateral to pubic tubercle; deep ring ≈ 1.5–2 cm above midpoint of inguinal ligament.

🧠 Common Exam Pitfalls

Femoral canal ≠ triangle: boundaries you listed for adductor longus/sartorius belong to the femoral triangle, not the canal.
Femoral canal contents are lymphatics (Cloquet node), not artery/vein/nerve.
Ilioinguinal nerve travels through part of the inguinal canal but does not enter via the deep ring.

Inguinal region anatomy

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Anatomy of the Inguinal and Femoral canal

🦴 Groin Anatomy — Femoral Canal vs Inguinal Canal

🧠 Common Exam Pitfalls

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