Cubital nodes

At a glance

English

Cubital nodes

Latin (TA2)

Nodi cubitales

System

Lymphatic

Region

Upper limb

Side

Paired, left and right

About the cubital nodes

The cubital nodes are small deep nodes of the upper limb. They lie in the cubital fossa, the triangular hollow at the front of the elbow, alongside the brachial artery just before it divides into the radial and ulnar arteries. They sit deep to the bicipital aponeurosis, near the median nerve, which runs medial to the artery here. There are usually only one or two, and they are easily missed in a normal arm.

They are separate from the supratrochlear nodes, which lie superficially above the medial epicondyle beside the basilic vein. Clinicians often use the word epitrochlear for any node around the inner elbow, so the two terms overlap in practice, but the cubital nodes are the deep set and the supratrochlear nodes the superficial one.

Lymph comes to the cubital nodes along the deep lymph vessels of the forearm, which travel with the radial, ulnar and interosseous arteries and drain the muscles, bones and joints of the forearm and hand. Their outflow continues upward with the brachial artery in the deep vessels of the arm and ends in the lateral axillary nodes along the axillary vein.

Because they lie deep, these nodes are rarely felt, but they may enlarge with deep infections of the forearm and hand, such as infections of the tendon sheaths or deep palmar spaces, and with tumours of the forearm. Their position next to the brachial artery and median nerve is worth knowing when masses in the cubital fossa are examined or removed.

Course and drainage

Begins at

Afferent deep lymph vessels of the forearm and hand, running with the radial, ulnar and interosseous arteries.

Drains into

Efferent vessels follow the brachial artery up the arm to the lateral axillary nodes.

Drains

Filters lymph from the deep tissues of the forearm and hand. Can enlarge in deep hand and forearm infection, as a mass next to the brachial artery and median nerve.