Radial artery

Last revised by Craig Hacking on 22 Apr 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Brennan T, Hacking C, Yu Y, et al. Radial artery. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 25 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-51521

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-51521

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/51521

rID:

51521

Article created:

22 Feb 2017, Tommy Brennan

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Tommy Brennan had no recorded disclosures.

View Tommy Brennan's current disclosures

Last revised:

22 Apr 2024, Craig Hacking ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:

Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Revisions:

17 times, by 6 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular, Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Anatomy

The radial artery is a terminal branch of the brachial artery and arises at the cubital fossa of the forearm. It is one of the two main arteries of the forearm, along with the ulnar artery.

origin: terminal branch of the brachial artery
location: inferior aspect of the cubital fossa
supply: elbow joint, lateral forearm muscles, radial nerve, carpal bones and joints, thumb, and lateral side of the index finger
main branches: radial recurrent artery, palmar carpal branch, dorsal carpal branch, and muscular branches

Gross anatomy

Origin

The radial artery originates at the cubital fossa as one of the two terminal branches of the brachial artery ¹.

Course

The radial artery runs along the radial aspect of the anterior compartment of the forearm under the brachioradialis, lateral to the flexor carpi radialis tendon. For the distal section of its course, the radial artery lies on the surface of the radius.

The radial artery leaves the anterior compartment of the forearm by passing laterally around the wrist before proceeding along the floor of the anatomical snuff box, passing dorsally around the scaphoid and trapezium ^1,2. At the carpal region of the hand, the radial artery forms the deep palmar arch of the hand and anastomoses with the ulnar artery ¹.

Branches

The branches of the radial artery in the forearm include the ¹:

radial recurrent artery
palmar carpal branch
dorsal carpal branch
muscular branches
superficial palmar branch

In the hand, the branches are the:

Termination

The radial artery terminates in the hand as it passes between the oblique and transverse heads of the adductor pollicis muscle to form the deep palmar arch, which anastomoses with the ulnar artery ^1,3.

Supply

The radial artery provides blood supply to the elbow joint, lateral forearm muscles, radial nerve, carpal bones and joints, thumb, and lateral side of the index finger ².

Variant anatomy

high division of the brachial artery where the brachial division occurs in the mid or upper arm, or sometime as high as the axilla. The radial and ulnar arteries therefore will have a long course in the arm.

References

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