Maxillary veins
Venae maxillares
A short venous trunk behind the neck of the mandible that carries blood from the pterygoid plexus to the retromandibular vein.
At a glance
- English
- Maxillary veins
- Latin (TA2)
- Venae maxillares
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the maxillary veins
The maxillary vein, formerly the internal maxillary vein, is a brief trunk in the infratemporal region. It is usually single on each side, though it may appear as two or more channels, which is why it is sometimes named in the plural. It travels alongside the maxillary artery in that vessel's first stretch, behind the mandibular neck.
It is gathered from the pterygoid venous plexus, the network of veins packed around the lateral pterygoid muscle, together with an emissary vein that crosses between the pterygoid muscles. From there it runs backwards, medial to the neck of the mandible and lateral to the sphenomandibular ligament, entering the parotid gland. Inside the gland it meets the superficial temporal vein, and the two together form the retromandibular vein.
Through the pterygoid plexus it indirectly drains the territory of the maxillary artery: the muscles of mastication, the teeth of both jaws, the nasal cavity, the palate and the deep face. It also communicates with the retroglenoid vein near the temporomandibular joint. Because the pterygoid plexus is joined to the cavernous sinus through emissary veins and to the facial vein through the deep facial vein, the maxillary vein is part of a wide network linking the deep face with the inside of the skull.
That network is the reason dental and deep facial infections can spread into the skull, and why an injection given to block nerves in the infratemporal fossa may cause a haematoma if a needle enters the plexus. Developmentally, the maxillary vein has been proposed as the forerunner of the central retinal vein. A comparable vein is present in many other mammals.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Formed from the pterygoid venous plexus together with an interpterygoid emissary vein, behind the neck of the mandible.
- Drains into
- Meets the superficial temporal vein in the parotid gland to form the retromandibular vein.
- Drains
- Drains the pterygoid plexus and so the territory of the maxillary artery: masticatory muscles, teeth, palate, nasal cavity and deep face.
Anthromica
See the maxillary veins 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.
