An anatomical study of the inferior cubital artery

Abstract

The inferior cubital artery is important in planning fasciocutaneous flaps in the forearm. The origin, course, anatomical relationships, and diameter were investigated in 20 human cadavers by dissecting 40 arms. The anatomical architecture of the artery was classified into six groups according to their origin, either being from the radial or the radial recurrent or the brachial artery. The skin marking of the origin of the inferior cubital artery was determined to be 38.55±11.57 mm (mean±ISD) inferior to the midpoint of the interepicondylar line on the anterior surface of the forearm. The inferior cubital artery may course from the back (70%), the front (17.5%), or between the paired limbs (5%) of the communicating branch of the cephalic vein in a crosswise fashion. The mean diameter of the artery was found to be 1.08±0.34 mm (mean±ISD). We report the observation of three new variations and different courses of the inferior cubital artery that have not been previously reported.