Analysis of the vascular pattern in the superficial palmar arch formation

---

Original Article

Author Details : Betty Anna Jose, Shashi Rekha M., Surendra Babu T.

Volume : 4, Issue : 1, Year : 2017

Article Page : 11-15

Suggest article by email

Get Permission

---

Abstract

Background: The superficial palmar arch (SPA) is the main source of arterial supply to the palm. It is an arterial arcade formed mainly by the ulnar artery and is completed by the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery or princeps pollicis artery or radialis indicis artery or median artery. The knowledge about the variations in the formation of SPA is important in reconstructive hand surgery and in radial artery grafts.
Objective: The objective of the present study is to identify the arterial patterns in the formation of superficial palmar arch and classify according to its formative tributaries.
Material and Methods: The study conducted on 69 formalin fixed hands at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore. The vascular pattern of superficial palmar arch was recorded and classified according to the variations.
Results: It was found that 96% of SPA were complete and 4% incomplete. Based on Coleman and Anson classification, type A arch was identified in 39%, type B in 17%, type C in 9%, type E in 31% and type G in 4%. Another finding was in 35% cases, the ulnar artery was highly tortuous in its course in the palm. A thin collateral or additional branch was found in 31% of the SPA.
Conclusion: These findings on the variations of SPA is essential in microvascular surgery and radial artery harvesting in coronary artery bypass graft procedure.

Keywords: Superficial Palmar Arch, Radial Artery, Ulnar Artery, Median Artery

How to cite : Jose B A, Shashi Rekha M., Surendra Babu T., Analysis of the vascular pattern in the superficial palmar arch formation. Indian J Clin Anat Physiol 2017;4(1):11-15

This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.