Description

This video covers the Venous Drainage of the Upper Limb, including the Subclavian Vein, Axillary Vein, Deep Venous System, and Superficial Venous System.

1. Subclavian Vein

• Passes within the groove for the subclavian vein (sulcus venae subclaviae).
• Receives blood from:
  • Dorsal Scapular Vein (Vena Scapularis Dorsalis)
  • External Jugular Vein (Vena Jugularis Externa)

2. Axillary Vein

• Begins at the lower border of the Teres Major Muscle (Musculus Teres Major).
• Receives tributaries from:
  • Thoraco-Epigastric Vein (Venae Thoracoepigastricae)
  • Lateral Thoracic Vein (Vena Thoracica Lateralis)
  • Anterior Circumflex Humeral Vein (Vena Circumflexa Humeri Anterior)
  • Posterior Circumflex Humeral Vein (Vena Circumflexa Humeri Posterior)
  • Cephalic Vein (Vena Cephalica)

3. Deep Venous System

Follows the course of arteries and runs as paired veins until the axilla.

• Brachial Veins (Venae Brachiales)
• Ulnar Veins (Venae Ulnares)
• Collateral Veins of the Elbow (Venae Collaterale Articulationis Cubiti)
  • Deep Brachial Veins
  • Superior Ulnar Collateral Vein
  • Inferior Ulnar Collateral Vein
  • Radial Recurrent Vein
• Radial Veins (Venae Radiales)
• Deep Venous Palmar Arch (Arcus Venosus Palmaris Profundus)

4. Superficial Venous System

• Basilic Vein (Vena Basilica)
• Cephalic Vein (Vena Cephalica)
• Median Cubital Vein (Vena Mediana Cubiti) – Common site for venipuncture.
• Median Antebrachial Vein (Vena Mediana Antebrachii)
• Intercapitular Vein (Venae Intercapitulares)
• Dorsal Venous Network of the Hand (Rete Venosum Dorsale Manus)

Clinical Relevance:

• Venipuncture: The median cubital vein is the preferred site for drawing blood.
• Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): Can occur in the deep venous system, affecting the brachial, axillary, or subclavian veins.
• Subclavian Vein Compression: In thoracic outlet syndrome, the subclavian vein can be compressed, causing venous congestion in the upper limb.

Sources Used:

• Memorix Anatomy (2nd Edition) – Hudák Radovan, Kachlík David, Volný Ondřej.
• Complete Anatomy by 3D4Medical.
• Biorender.
• University Notes and Lectures.

Transcript

Introduction
0:03
In the last video, we covered the tributaries of the superior vena cava and the brachiocephalic
0:08
veins.
0:09
Now let’s go ahead and follow these veins as we covert eh veins of the upper limb.
0:14
So in this video, we’re gonna gover the veins of the upper limb by first going through the
0:19
Subclavian Vein Then the Axillary Vein
0:22
And then covert he deep system of veins in the arm,
0:25
Followed by the superficial system of veins in the arm!
Veins of the Systemic Circulation
0:28
Awesome So, the easiest way to understand the veins
0:31
of the systemic circulation is to divide them into their own systems.
0:35
So the veins of the heart form their own system We have the Veins of the Inferior Vena Cava,
0:40
which is responsible for supplying the lower half of the body
0:44
Veins of the superior vena cava for the upper half of the body
0:48
And the portal system, which drains nutrients from the intestines
0:51
and waste products from the spleen and dumps them into the liver to be processed,
0:55
which then lead the blood into the inferior vena cava again.
0:58
So these are the 4 main systems of veins we have in our bodies.
Subclavian Vein
1:02
Let’s now talk briefly about the venous drainage of the upper limb, starting with the subclavian
1:08
vein!
1:09
First thing you need to remember is that the brachiocephalic vein is formed by a union
1:13
of The subclavian vein, and the internal jugular
1:16
vein.
1:17
Alright let’s go ahead and zoom in and start covering the subclavian vein.
1:22
The subclavian vein lies on the groove for the subclavian vein, on the first rib, and
1:29
runs through the space.
1:30
The subclavian vein has only minor tributaries as most of the veins following branches of
1:35
the subclavian artery open into either the brachiocephalic vein or the internal jugular
1:40
vein.
1:41
So the one that drain into the subclavian vein is the Dorsal Scapular Vein, which drains
1:47
the area supplied by the dorsal scapular artery, like the levator scapulae, rhomboids, and
1:53
trapezius.
1:55
And it also received blood from the External Jugular Vein, which remember has tributaries
2:00
like the Anterior jugular vein, and the suprascapular
2:03
vein and the transverse cervical vein.
2:06
So that was the subclavian vein.
Axillary Vein
2:09
Now let’s go ahead and cover the Axillary Vein.
2:12
The axillary vein starts at the border of the Teres Major Muscle, and ends at the subclavian
2:18
vein.
2:19
Like this.
2:20
Its tributaries correspond with the branches of the axillary artery; like the thoraco-epigastric
2:26
vein Lateral Thoracic Vein
2:29
Anterior circumflex humeral vein and the posterior circumflex humeral vein.
2:33
But it also has tributaries that are special for the axillary vein.
2:37
And that is the cephalic vein.
2:39
Let’s now zoom out, and draw a layout of how the veins of the arms are arranged.
2:45
So again.
2:46
Subclavian vein have the External Jugular vein and the Dorsal Scapular Vein draining
2:50
into it.
2:51
Then there’s the axillary vein, which has the anterior and the posterior circumflex
2:56
humeral veins, the lateral thoracic and the thoraco-epigastric veins, as well as the cephalic
3:02
vein.
3:03
Awesome.
3:04
The veins of the upper limb form two systems.
Two Systems of Veins
3:08
There’s the Deep system of veins, And the superficial system of veins.
3:12
The main deep veins we’re gonna cover are the brachial veins, Ulnar veins, Radial Veins
3:19
and the deep venous palmar arch.
3:22
While the superficial veins we’re gonna cover are the basilic, cephalic, median cubital,
3:28
intercapitular, and the dorsal venous network of the hand.
3:32
Let’s start with the deep system of veins first.
Deep System of Veins
3:35
The veins of the deep system follow the course of the arteries; two veins accompany each
3:41
artery up to the armpit First are the two brachial veins that go from
3:46
the axillary vein to the cubital area.
3:49
It then continues as two radial veins.
3:52
Going towards the right side of the wrist.
3:55
Then there’s the Ulnar veins, that drain into either the radial veins or the Ulnar Veins.
4:00
These veins form the collateral veins of the elbow, just like the arteries do.
4:05
And they do that through veins like the Inferior Ulnar Collateral and the Superior Ulnar Collateral
4:11
veins.
4:12
As well as veins like the Deep brachial Vein and the Radial recurrent vein.
4:16
So these 4 are considered a part of the collateral veins of the elbow.
4:20
Alright.
4:21
Then we have the deep venous palmar arch, which drains the fingers and metacarpals and
4:28
dump the blood into the deep veins.
4:30
So that was a quick walkthrough for the deep system of veins.
4:34
Now let’s go ahead and cover the superficial veins of the upper limb.
Superficial System of Veins
4:37
The superficial system lies superficially to the fascia of the muscles and lacks corresponding
4:43
arteries.
4:44
So the first one that we’re gonna talk about is the Basilic Vein.
4:48
Now the basilic vein goes like this.
4:50
IIt arises at the dorsal venous network of the hand and courses on the medial side of
4:56
the forearm, runs in the medial bicipital groove in the arm, and then joins the brachial
5:02
veins.
5:03
Then we have the Basilic Vein It arises at the dorsal venous network of the hand as well
5:09
– courses on the lateral side of the forearm runs in the lateral bicipital groove in the
5:16
arm and then join the axillary vein Then we have the median cubital vein, which
5:22
connects the cephalic vein with the basilic vein across the cubital fossa.
5:26
Sometimes, between the cephalic and the basilic vein, you’ll find the median antebrachial
5:32
vein.
5:33
Then we have the superficial venous palmar arch, which lies below the palmar aponeurosis
5:40
and the arterial arch.
5:41
This one drains into the superficial and the deep veins.
5:45
Then we have the Dorsal venous network of the hand, which is a venous plexus on the
5:51
dorsum of the hand, and It gives rise to veins such as the cephalic vein and the basilic
5:57
vein.
5:58
As you see here.
5:59
Awesome Then lastly, we have the intercapitular veins,
6:02
which are veins that form connections draining venous blood from the palm to the dorsal venous
6:09
network of the hand.
6:10
So that was everything I had for the venous drainage of the upper limb.
6:14
And with that, my friends, we’ve finally covered all the veins of the superior vena cava.
6:19
The next couple of videos are gonna be about the inferior vena cava.