Lingual vein
Vena lingualis
The vein draining the tongue, formed below and behind it and ending in the internal jugular vein in the neck.
At a glance
- English
- Lingual vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena lingualis
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the lingual vein
The lingual vein collects blood from the tongue and the floor of the mouth. Rather than a single channel beside the artery, it is built from several tributaries that follow two different paths and unite near the back of the hyoglossus muscle.
One set travels with the lingual artery deep to hyoglossus. These are the dorsal lingual veins, which drain the back of the dorsum and the sides of the tongue. The other set runs on the outer surface of hyoglossus with the hypoglossal nerve. It begins at the tip of the tongue as the deep lingual vein, which runs back on the underside of the tongue, close to the frenulum, just under the thin lining. Near the front edge of hyoglossus it is joined by the sublingual vein from the sublingual gland, and the combined vessel continues backwards as the vein accompanying the hypoglossal nerve. The two sets join near the greater horn of the hyoid bone, and the lingual vein ends in the internal jugular vein, sometimes after joining the facial vein first.
The deep lingual veins can be seen as bluish lines on the underside of the tongue. Because the lining there is thin and the vessels are close beneath it, drugs placed under the tongue, such as glyceryl trinitrate for angina, are absorbed rapidly into the circulation and avoid the liver at first pass. Swollen, tortuous veins here are common in older people and are usually harmless. In surgery of the floor of the mouth and the submandibular region, the veins beside the hypoglossal nerve are a source of bleeding.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Formed near the posterior border of hyoglossus by the dorsal lingual veins and the vein accompanying the hypoglossal nerve, itself made by the deep lingual and sublingual veins.
- Drains into
- Internal jugular vein near the greater horn of the hyoid bone, sometimes through the facial vein.
- Drains
- Drains the tongue, the floor of the mouth and the sublingual gland.
Anthromica
See the lingual 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.
