Superficial palmar branch of radial artery

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Artery: Superficial palmar branch of radial artery

Palm of left hand, showing position of skin creases and bones, and surface markings for the volar arches.
Latin	ramus palmaris superficialis arteriae radialis
Gray's	subject #151 594
Source	radial artery
Branches	superficial palmar arch
Dorlands/Elsevier	r_02/12691363

The superficial palmar branch of the radial artery arises from the radial artery, just where this vessel is about to wind around the lateral side of the wrist.

Running forward, it passes through, occasionally over, the thenar muscles, which it supplies, and sometimes anastomoses with the terminal portion of the ulnar artery, completing the superficial palmar arch.

This vessel varies considerably in size: usually it is very small, and ends in the muscles of the thumb; sometimes it is as large as the continuation of the radial artery itself.

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.