Radial artery

Overview
In human anatomy, the radial artery is the main blood vessel, with oxygenated blood, of the lateral aspect of the forearm.

Course
The radial artery arises from the bifurcation of the brachial artery in the cubital fossa. It runs distally down 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

 * Radial recurrent artery - arises just after the radial artery comes off the brachial artery. It travels superiorly to anastomose with the radial collateral artery.
 * Palmar carpal branch of radial artery - a small vessel which arises near the lower border of the pronator quadratus
 * 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.

At the Wrist

 * Dorsal carpal branch of radial artery - a small vessel which arises beneath the extensor tendons of the thumb
 * First dorsal metacarpal artery - arises just before the radial artery passes between the two heads of the first dorsal interosseous muscle and divides almost immediately into two branches which supply the adjacent sides of the thumb and index finger; the lateral side of the thumb receives a branch directly from the radial artery.

In the Hand

 * Princeps pollicis artery - arises from the radial artery just as it turns medially to the deep part of the hand.
 * Radialis indicis - arises close to the princeps pollicis. The two arteries may arise from a common trunk, the first palmar metacarpal artery.
 * Deep palmar arch - terminal part of radial artery.

Clinical significance
The artery's pulse is palpable in the anatomical snuff box and on the anterior aspect of the arm over the carpal bones (where it is commonly used to assess the heart rate and cardiac rhythm).

The radial artery is used for coronary artery bypass grafting and is growing in popularity among cardiac surgeons. Recently, it has been shown to have a superior peri-operative and post-operative course when compared to saphenous vein grafts.