Submental vein
Vena submentalis
A vein under the chin that follows the submental artery along the floor of the mouth and drains into the facial vein.
At a glance
- English
- Submental vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena submentalis
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the submental vein
The submental vein drains the region beneath the chin. It begins from small veins of the chin, the lower lip and the muscles of the floor of the mouth, and runs backwards on the superficial surface of mylohyoid, under cover of the platysma and the anterior belly of digastric. Throughout this course it lies beside the submental artery, a branch of the facial artery, whose territory it shares.
Near the lower border of the mandible, below the submandibular gland, it ends by joining the facial vein. This makes it one of the tributaries of the facial vein in the neck, which in turn usually drains to the internal jugular vein, often through a short common facial trunk formed with the retromandibular vein.
Along its path the submental vein connects with neighbouring veins. It links with the sublingual vein, which drains the region beneath the tongue on the upper side of mylohyoid, through small channels that pierce the muscle. Towards the midline it communicates with the anterior jugular vein, which begins close to the hyoid bone and runs down the front of the neck. Through these links blood from the chin and floor of the mouth has several routes back to the heart.
The vein lies in the submental triangle, the small space bounded by the two anterior bellies of digastric and the hyoid bone, which also contains the submental lymph nodes. These nodes drain the tip of the tongue, the floor of the mouth, the lower incisor region and the centre of the lower lip, so the submental vessels are met in neck dissections for cancers of the mouth and lip. The submental vessels also form the pedicle of the submental flap, used to reconstruct defects of the face and mouth.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Small veins of the chin, lower lip and floor of the mouth, on the surface of mylohyoid.
- Drains into
- Drains into the facial vein near the lower border of the mandible.
- Drains
- Drains the skin and tissues of the chin and submental region, the lower lip and the muscles of the floor of the mouth.
Anthromica
See the submental 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.
