Facial vein
Vena facialis
The main vein of the face, running from beside the nose down across the cheek and jaw into the neck.
At a glance
- English
- Facial vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena facialis
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the facial vein
The facial vein, once called the anterior facial vein, carries most of the blood from the front of the face. It continues directly from the angular vein beside the root of the nose, where it also takes in a small nasal tributary. It keeps behind the facial artery throughout, but its path is straighter than the winding artery, and its wall is firmer than that of most superficial veins, so it stays open when cut.
From the nose it slopes down and back across the face, passing deep to zygomaticus major and the zygomatic head of the upper lip elevators. It reaches the front edge of masseter, runs down over the surface of that muscle and crosses the body of the mandible just in front of the masseter attachment. In the neck it is covered by platysma and the cervical fascia and lies on the submandibular gland, digastric and stylohyoid.
Along this course it collects veins from the eyelids, nose and lips, the deep facial vein from the pterygoid plexus, and the external palatine vein from the tonsil and soft palate, as well as submental and submandibular tributaries. Below the jaw it usually joins the anterior division of the retromandibular vein to make the common facial vein, which drains into the internal jugular vein; sometimes it opens straight into the internal jugular. Valves have been shown in it, contrary to the old teaching that it has none.
Through the angular vein and the ophthalmic veins, and through the deep facial vein and pterygoid plexus, the facial vein is connected to the cavernous sinus inside the skull. Thrombophlebitis of the facial vein, a clot formed on an inflamed wall, can send infected material back along these routes and lead to thrombosis of the cavernous sinus or spread to other dural sinuses. Wounds of the face and squeezed spots in the area it drains are common starting points.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Continues from the angular vein beside the root of the nose.
- Drains into
- Usually unites with the anterior division of the retromandibular vein, the pair making the common facial vein, which drains into the internal jugular vein; sometimes ends in the internal jugular directly.
- Drains
- Drains the forehead, eyelids, nose, lips, cheek, chin and the submandibular region, with a deep connection to the pterygoid plexus.
Anthromica
See the facial 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.
