Source brachial artery Latin Arteria radialis TA A12.2.09.027 | Vein radial vein MeSH A07.231.114.740 | |
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Branches In the forearm:
Radial recurrent artery
Palmar carpal branch of radial artery
Superficial palmar branch of the radial artery.
*At the wrist:
Dorsal carpal branch of radial artery
First dorsal metacarpal artery.
*In the hand:
Princeps pollicis artery
Radialis indicis
Deep palmar arch | ||
In human anatomy, the radial artery is the main artery of the lateral aspect of the forearm.
Contents
Course
The radial artery arises from the bifurcation of the brachial artery in the cubital fossa (elbow pit). It runs distally on the anterior part of the forearm. There, it serves as a landmark for the division between the anterior and posterior compartments of the forearm, with the posterior compartment beginning just lateral to the artery. The artery winds laterally around the wrist, passing through the anatomical snuff box and between the heads of the first dorsal interosseous muscle. It passes anteriorly between the heads of the adductor pollicis, and becomes the deep palmar arch, which joins with the deep branch of the ulnar artery.
Along its course, it is accompanied by a similarly named vein, the radial vein.
Branches
The named branches of the radial artery may be divided into three groups, corresponding with the three regions in which the vessel is situated.
In the forearm
At the wrist
In the hand
Clinical significance
The radial artery lies superficially in front of the distal end of the radius, between the tendons of the brachioradialis and flexor carpi radialis; it is here that clinician takes the radial pulse. (where it is commonly used to assess the heart rate and cardiac rhythm). Presence of radial pulse was thought to indicate a systolic blood pressure of at least 70 mmHg, as estimated from the 50% percentile, although this was found to generally be an overestimation of a patient's true blood pressure. The radial artery can be less easily felt as it crosses the anatomical snuff box. The radial artery is used for coronary artery bypass grafting and is growing in popularity among cardiac surgeons.[1] Recently, it has been shown to have a superior peri-operative and post-operative course when compared to saphenous vein grafts.[2]
The radial artery is often punctured in a common procedure to obtain an arterial blood gas. Such a procedure may first involve an Allen's test.
The radial artery is a common site for the insertion of an arterial line, such as for blood pressure monitoring in an Intensive care unit. It is selected because it is accessible, and because of the low incidence of complications such as thrombosis.