The dorsal carpal branch of the ulnar artery arises from the

ulnar artery The ulnar artery is the main blood vessel, with oxygenated blood, of the medial aspects of the forearm. It arises from the brachial artery and terminates in the superficial palmar arch, which joins with the superficial branch of the radial ar ...

immediately above the

pisiform The pisiform bone ( or ), also spelled pisiforme (from the Latin ''pisifomis'', pea-shaped), is a small knobbly, sesamoid bone that is found in the wrist. It forms the ulnar border of the carpal tunnel. Structure The pisiform is a sesamoid bone, ...

bone, and winds backward beneath the tendon of the

flexor carpi ulnaris The flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) is a muscle of the forearm that flexes and adducts at the wrist joint. Structure Origin The flexor carpi ulnaris has two heads; a humeral head and ulnar head. The humeral head originates from the medial epicondyle of ...

; it passes across the dorsal surface of the carpus beneath the extensor tendons, to anastomose with a corresponding branch of the radial artery. Immediately after its origin, it gives off a small branch, which runs along the ulnar side of the

fifth metacarpal The fifth metacarpal bone (metacarpal bone of the little finger or pinky finger) is the most medial and second-shortest of the metacarpal bones. Surfaces It presents on its base one facet on its superior surface, which is concavo-convex and artic ...

bone, and supplies the ulnar side of the dorsal surface of the little finger.

References

External links

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