Basilic vein
Vena basilica
A large superficial vein climbing the ulnar side of the forearm and medial arm before passing deep to form the axillary vein.
At a glance
- English
- Basilic vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena basilica
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Upper limb
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the basilic vein
The basilic vein is one of the two main superficial veins of the upper limb, partnering the cephalic vein on the opposite border. It starts on the back of the hand, from the ulnar end of the dorsal venous network, and gathers blood from the medial part of the hand and forearm.
From the hand it winds round the ulnar border of the forearm onto its front, running up in the subcutaneous fat over the muscles, so that it can often be seen through the skin. In front of the elbow it is usually linked to the cephalic vein by the median cubital vein, and it also receives the median antebrachial vein and many small unnamed channels. The pattern of superficial forearm veins differs a great deal from one person to the next.
Above the elbow it follows the groove on the medial side of biceps. Somewhere between just above the medial epicondyle and the middle of the arm it passes through the deep fascia and from then on runs beside the brachial artery. Near the lower border of teres major it receives the circumflex humeral veins and then unites with the brachial veins; from this union onward the vessel is the axillary vein. The medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm runs close to it in the lower arm.
The basilic vein can be used for drawing blood and placing cannulas, but in the forearm it lies on the ulnar side and is awkward to reach with the arm turned palm up, so it is often left untouched; some nurses call it the virgin vein. That makes it valuable later. Vascular surgeons use it to construct an arteriovenous fistula, sometimes moving it to a superficial position, or as part of a graft for haemodialysis in kidney failure. Its straight, deep course in the arm also suits peripherally inserted central catheters.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begins at the medial, little-finger end of the venous network on the back of the hand.
- Drains into
- Joins the brachial veins at the lower border of teres major to form the axillary vein.
- Drains
- Drains the skin and superficial tissues of the medial hand, forearm and arm.
Anthromica
See the basilic vein where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
