The superficial palmar branch of the radial artery 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 where this vessel is about to wind around the lateral side of the

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the Carpal bones, carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known ...

. Running forward, it passes through, occasionally over, the

thenar muscles The thenar eminence is the mound formed at the base of the thumb on the palm of the hand by the muscles of the thumb#Intrinsic, intrinsic group of muscles of the thumb. The skin overlying this region is the area stimulated when trying to elicit ...

, which it supplies, and sometimes anastomoses with the terminal portion of the ulnar artery, completing the

superficial palmar arch The superficial palmar arch is formed predominantly by the ulnar artery, with a contribution from the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery. However, in some individuals the contribution from the radial artery might be absent, and instea ...

. This vessel varies considerably in size: usually it is very small, and ends in the muscles of the thumb; sometimes it is as large as the continuation of the radial artery itself.

References

Arteries of the upper limb {{circulatory-stub