The princeps pollicis artery, or principal artery of the thumb, arises from the

radial artery In human anatomy, the radial artery is the main artery of the lateral aspect of the forearm. Structure The radial artery arises from the bifurcation of the brachial artery in the antecubital fossa. It runs distally on the anterior part of the f ...

just as it turns medially towards the deep part of the hand; it descends between the first dorsal interosseous muscle and the oblique head of the

adductor pollicis In human anatomy, the adductor pollicis muscle is a muscle in the hand that functions to adduct the thumb. It has two heads: transverse and oblique. It is a fleshy, flat, triangular, and fan-shaped muscle deep in the thenar compartment benea ...

, along the medial side of the

first metacarpal The first metacarpal bone or the metacarpal bone of the thumb is the first bone proximal to the thumb. It is connected to the trapezium of the carpus at the first carpometacarpal joint and to the proximal thumb phalanx at the first metacarpopha ...

bone to the base of the

proximal phalanx The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...

, where it lies beneath the tendon of the

flexor pollicis longus The flexor pollicis longus (; FPL, Latin ''flexor'', bender; ''pollicis'', of the thumb; ''longus'', long) is a muscle in the forearm and hand that flexes the thumb. It lies in the same plane as the flexor digitorum profundus. This muscle is un ...

muscle and divides into two branches. These make their appearance between the medial and lateral insertions of the adductor pollicis, and run along the sides of the thumb, forming an arch on the palmar surface of the distal phalanx, from which branches are distributed to the

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, shell, germ or rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or ...

and subcutaneous tissue of the thumb. As the princeps pollicis has a strong pulse, the thumb should not be used to read pulses in other people, as this may produce false positives.

Additional images

File:Gray527.png, The radial and ulnar arteries. (Arteria princeps pollicis visible at lower left.) File:Gray528.png, Ulnar and radial arteries. Deep view.

References

External links

* ("Palm of the hand, deep dissection, anterior view") * ("Dorsum of the hand, deep dissection, posterior view") Arteries of the upper limb {{circulatory-stub