Veins - Upper Extremity
Key Points:
Superficial veins
- Cephalic vein, laterally
- Basilic vein, medially
- Often visible through the skin
Deep veins
- Typically travel with, and share the names of, the major arteries.
- Often paired, meaning that, for example, two brachial veins travel side by side within the arm.
Branch Details:
Superficial veins
- Dorsal venous arch
- Cephalic vein, laterally
- Basilic vein, medially
- Median cubital vein
- Crosses the anterior elbow (aka, cubital region) to link the cephalic and basilic veins.
- Median antebrachial cubital vein
- Arises from the dorsum of thumb and wraps around the wrist anteriorly. It ascends in the forearm to join the median cubital vein.
Notable variation exists in the junction of the median cubital and median antebrachial veins; additional veins are common in this area.
Deep veins
Deep venous palmar arch
- Arises in the palm of the hand and drains into the radial vein.
- Converge at the elbow to form the brachial vein, which is the primary vein of the anterior arm.
- Joins the basilic vein, to form the axillary vein.
- Drains into and is continuous with the subclavian vein.
- Joins the external and internal jugular veins.
- Forms from merger of subclavian and jugular veins.
- Brachiocephalic veins from each side of the body converge to form the superior vena cava, which drains into the right atrium of the heart.
Clinical correlations:
- Superficial veins are used in venipuncture, transfusion, and cardiac catheterization.
- Superficial and deep lymph vessels, which carry lymph fluid to the axillary lymph nodes, travel with the superficial and deep veins.
Photos from:
https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/bluelink/resources/bluelinks/labeled-overview-of-upper-limb-images