Blood supply and vessels of the upper arm Flashcards
<p>Name all the major arteries of the arm.</p>
<p>Subclavian artery, axillary artery, brachial artery, radial artery, ulnar artery and the palmar arterial arch. </p>
<p>Are there arteries on both the posterior and anterior regions of the arm?</p>
<p>No- just the anterior side, that gives off branches to supply the back.</p>
<p>How many parts is the axillary artery split into?</p>
<p>There are 3 parts to the axillary artery. </p>
<p>Where is the axillary artery found and what structures does it supply?</p>
<p>The axillary artery is found in the axilla next to the shoulder joint and below the clavicle.
It supplies blood to the shoulder joint structures. </p>
<p>Where is the brachial artery and what structures does it supply?</p>
<p>The brachial artery starts at the lower border of teres major.
It immediately branches off to form the profundus brachii or the deep brachial artery that supplies the posterior upper arm structures.
The brachial artery supplies the anterior muscles also as it heads down to the cubital fossa, where it terminates by splitting into two. </p>
<p>Where are the radial and ulnar arteries and what structures do they innervate?</p>
<p>They both arise from the brachial artery and split to travel down either border of the forearm.
The radial artery travels down the lateral side and supplies that region whilst the ulnar artery travels down the medial side and supplies the anterior side.
They both meet again at the hand to form the deep and superficial palmar arches. </p>
<p>How is the ulnar artery able to supply blood to the superficial, intermediate and deep structures of the anterior forearm?</p>
<p>The ulnar artery gives off a branch called the common interosseous artery, its only about 1 cm long.
The common interosseous then splits again into the anterior and posterior interosseous arteries.
The anterior interosseous artery lies in front of the interosseous membrane and supplies the deep muscles of the forearm.
The posterior interosseous artery supplies the extensor muscles.
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<p>How do the radial and ulnar arteries enter the wrist?</p>
<p>The radial artery bypasses the flexor retinaculum completely. The ulnar artery does travel through it, but in its own canal alongside the ulnar nerve (Guyon's canal). </p>
<p>Name the major deep veins in the arm that form vena cometantes with the major arteries?</p>
<p>There are vena cometantes, which means for every major artery in the arm there are 2 major veins accompanying it with the same name. There are the axillary veins, brachial veins, the median cubital vein (blood taken here) and the radial and ulnar veins. </p>
<p>What are the major superficial veins in the lower arm?</p>
<p>The cephalic and basilic veins. The cephalic vein runs down the radial side and the basilic vein runs down the ulnar side. </p>
What is volkmann’s contracture and what is its clinical significance to blood vessels?
It occurs when the brachial artery, that supplies the anterior forearm muscles is occluded or blocked.
The resulting ischaemia of the forearm can cause necrosis and paralysis of the muscles in the forearm. The affected muscles are replaced to some degree by scar tissue, and shorten considerably. This can cause a characteristic flexion deformity, caused Volkmann’s contracture.
