Major arteries, veins and nerves of the body

Head and neck

Blood supply for the head and neck comes from the branches of the aortic arch: brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery.

• The brachiocephalic trunk gives rise to the right common carotid and right subclavian arteries. 
• The common carotid arteries each branch into the internal and external carotid arteries. Internal carotid arteries together with vertebral arteries supply the brain, while external carotid arteries supply the face and neck. 
• The subclavian arteries give rise to vertebral arteries, and then continue on to the axilla, where they become axillary arteries and supply the upper limb.

Learn more and consolidate your knowledge abot the main arteries of the head and neck with the Kenhub resources!

Upper extremity

The main artery of the upper limb is the axillary artery–it is a continuation of the subclavian artery. The axillary artery continues down the arm as the brachial artery, then splits into the ulnar and radial arteries in the forearm. The hand is supplied by the terminal branches of the ulnar and radial arteries, which anastomose and form two arterial arches: superficial and deep palmar arches.

Find out more about the main arteries of the upper limb in the study unit below, or take the quiz to see what you've learned so far!

Lower extremity

The main artery of the lower limb is the femoral artery and its continuation–the popliteal artery. The femoral artery supplies the gluteal region and the thigh before it continues as the popliteal artery in the posterior knee.The popliteal artery then supplies the knee region, before splitting into two branches which supply the leg: anterior tibial and posterior tibial (gives off the fibular artery as a branch). These three arteries supply the the leg. The foot is supplied by the dorsalis pedis artery (a continuation of the anterior tibial artery) and the posterior tibial artery.

To learn everything about the main arteries of the lower limb, we recommend you go through the following study unit and custom quiz:

Head and neck

Deoxygenated blood from the brain, head, and neck ultimately drain into one of the three jugular veins: external, internal, or anterior.

• Venous blood of the brain and meninges (dura, arachnoid and pia) drains into the dural venous sinuses, which drain into the internal jugular vein. 
• Blood from the scalp and face drain into the veins that accompany the arteries of the scalp and face, which ultimately drain into the external jugular vein. 
• Venous blood of the neck drains into the anterior jugular vein. 

From here: both the external jugular and anterior jugular veins drain into the subclavian vein; the internal jugular vein merges with the subclavian vein to form the brachiocephalic vein; and the left and right brachiocephalic veins combine, creating the superior vena cava.

Learn more about the main veins of the head and neck with our Kenhub study materials.

Trunk

Veins of the trunk converge from the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis towards the heart. Deoxygenated blood from the thorax ultimately drains into the superior vena cava (SVC). The major thoracic tributaries of the SVC include the: azygos venous system, pulmonary veins, internal thoracic vein and cardiac veins. Venous blood from the abdomen and pelvis is drained by the inferior vena cava. Its main tributaries are the:

• Common iliac and internal iliac veins which drain the pelvis 
• Lumbar, renal, gonadal, suprarenal, phrenic, portal, and hepatic veins which drain the abdomen

Upper extremity

The hand is drained by the dorsal venous network which gives rise to the basilic and cephalic veins. These two veins drain the superficial structures of the forearm, while the deep structures are drained by the radial and ulnar veins. These two veins then merge join to form the brachial vein. Further up the arm, the basilic and brachial veins unite into the axillary vein, into which the cephalic vein drains too.

All upper extremity veins eventually drain into the axillary vein. It drains the arm and shoulder. The axillary vein ultimately empties into the subclavian vein, which belongs to the venous system of the superior vena cava. 

Jump right into the main nerves of the upper limb with this interactive quiz.

Lower extremity

The lower limb veins are the dorsal venous arch, anterior tibial, posterior tibial, fibular/peroneal, popliteal, femoral, great saphenous, small saphenous, external iliac, and common iliac veins. These are separated into deep and superficial venous systems.

From the periphery, deep structures of the leg are first drained by the dorsal venous arch of the foot. This arch drains the foot then gives rise to the anterior tibial, posterior tibial, and fibular/peroneal veins. These three drain the leg and unite into the popliteal vein at the posterior knee. The popliteal vein continues as the femoral vein, which drains the thigh. Once the femoral vein passes under the inguinal ligament, it continues as the external iliac vein, which drains into the common iliac vein.Superficial structures of the leg are drained by the great saphenous and the small saphenous veins. They are formed by dorsal venous arches of the foot, and they drain into the femoral vein and popliteal vein respectively. The right and left common iliac veins unite and form the inferior vena cava. The gluteal (hip) region is drained directly into the internal iliac vein by superior and inferior gluteal veins.

Master the major veins of the upper and lower limb with our study materials:

Head and neck

The major nerves of the head and neck come from the 12 pairs of the cranial nerves and the cervical plexus. The 12 pairs of the cranial nerves originate from the brain. They are the: olfactory (CN I), optic (CN II), oculomotor (CN III), trochlear (CN IV), trigeminal (CN V), abducens (CN VI), facial (CN VII), vestibulocochlear (CN VIII), glossopharyngeal (CN IX), vagus (CN X), accessory (CN XI), and hypoglossal nerves (CN XII). They provide sensory, motor, and autonomic innervation to almost all the structures of the head.

The cervical plexus supplies the skin and muscles of the anterolateral neck, the superior thorax, and an area of the scalp between the auricle and the external occipital protuberance. It is a network of nerves formed by the anterior rami of cervical spinal nerves C1-C5.

Trunk

The trunk has a rich somatic and autonomic neural supply. You may wonder why, but there’s more than 30 of our organs packed in there, and they all need innervation. So let’s take a look at the trunk nerves and clarify them once and for all. The thoracic wall is supplied by the lateral and medial pectoral nerves, 11 intercostal nerves (T1-T11) and the subcostal nerves (T12). The diaphragm is supplied by the left and right phrenic nerves (C4). Autonomic innervation for thoracic viscera comes from pulmonary and cardiac plexuses (C1-T1). The vagus nerve provides parasympathetic fibers and the sympathetic trunk provides the sympathetic input for those plexuses.

The abdominal walls are supplied by the thoraco-abdominal nerves (T7-T11), subcostal nerve (T12) and the upper three branches of the lumbar plexus (L1-L4), which we have covered in the lower limb section. Autonomic innervation for the abdominal viscera comes from spinal levels T5 to L2.The lower thoracic and lumbar splanchnic nerves provide sympathetic innervation, while the vagus and pelvic splanchnic nerves carry parasympathetic fibers. The sympathetic fibers end within prevertebral sympathetic ganglia around the roots of the major branches of the abdominal aorta. The parasympathetic fibers end within ganglia scattered over the abdomen, close to the abdominal organs.

The pelvic walls are mainly innervated by the sacral and coccygeal spinal nerves. Autonomic innervation for the pelvic viscera comes from inferior hypogastric and pelvic plexuses. Sympathetic sources for them are the superior hypogastric plexus, while the parasympathetic are the pelvic splanchnic nerves. Sexual arousal is mediated by parasympathetic fibers, while sympathetic portion provides sensation of pleasure during orgasm.

Upper extremity

The major nerves of the upper limb come from the brachial plexus–formed by the anterior rami of spinal nerves C5-T1.

Main branches of the brachial plexus are the musculocutaneous, axillary, radial, median, and ulnar nerves. The first two predominantly supply the shoulder and the arm, while the radial, median, and ulnar nerves mainly supply the forearm and the hand. Lateral and medial pectoral nerves also originate from brachial plexus, but innervate the pectoralis major muscle in the trunk.

Solidify and test your knowledge about the main nerves of the upper limb with the following study unit and custom quiz:

Lower extremity

The lower limb is supplied by branches of the lumbar plexus and sacral plexus, together forming the lumbosacral plexus. The lumbar plexus is formed by the anterior rami of L1-L4, giving rise to six nerves that innervate parts of the abdominopelvic region and the lower limb: the iliohypogastric, ilioinguinal, genitofemoral, lateral femoral cutaneous, obturator and femoral nerves.

It is the latter three nerves which supply the lower extremity. The sacral plexus is formed by the anterior rami of L5-S2, which gives rise to five sacral nerves: the superior gluteal, inferior gluteal, sciatic, posterior femoral cutaneous, and pudendal nerves, nerve to piriformis, nerve to obturator internus, and nerve to quadratus femoris. 

The region of the hip is supplied the femoral, obturator and superior gluteal nerves. The anterior thigh is supplied by the femoral nerve and its cutaneous branch, the saphenous nerve. The posterior thigh is supplied by the sciatic nerve, while the medial thigh is predominantly supplied by the obturator nerve. The leg is supplied by the tibial nerve and the common fibular (peroneal) nerve and its branches (superficial and deep). All of these are branches of the sciatic nerve. The foot is supplied by branches of the medial and lateral plantar nerves, both of which originate from the tibial nerve.

This quiz is specially designed to test your knowledge about the arteries, veins and nerves of the body. Tackle it to cement and master the neurovasculature of the human body!