Superior epigastric artery
Arteria epigastrica superior
A terminal branch of the internal thoracic artery that descends inside the rectus sheath to supply the upper anterior abdominal wall.
At a glance
- English
- Superior epigastric artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Arteria epigastrica superior
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the superior epigastric artery
The superior epigastric artery is one of the two vessels into which the internal thoracic artery divides behind the sixth intercostal space; the other is the musculophrenic artery. It continues the downward line of its parent vessel, leaving the thorax by slipping between the sternal and costal slips of the diaphragm, and comes to lie in the anterior abdominal wall.
Once in the abdomen it enters the rectus sheath. There it runs downwards behind rectus abdominis, between the muscle and the posterior layer of the sheath, and soon passes into the substance of the muscle. Around the level of the umbilicus its branches meet and join those of the inferior epigastric artery, a branch of the external iliac, which climbs up in the same plane from below. A vein of the same name travels with it and drains back to the internal thoracic vein.
Its territory is the upper part of rectus abdominis and the overlying skin and fascia of the epigastric region. Small branches also reach the anterior part of the diaphragm, and on the right side a twig runs in the falciform ligament towards the liver, where it can meet hepatic vessels.
The link between the superior and inferior epigastric arteries is one of the body's important collateral routes. It joins the subclavian artery, through the internal thoracic, to the external iliac artery. When the aorta is narrowed, as in coarctation present from birth, or when the abdominal aorta becomes blocked by atherosclerosis, blood can bypass the obstruction along this channel, and both the epigastric and internal thoracic vessels widen considerably. Given time, the route can even carry enough blood to keep the lower limbs supplied.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- The internal thoracic artery, as its medial terminal branch at about the sixth intercostal space.
- Ends in
- Ends in rectus abdominis near the umbilicus by anastomosing with the inferior epigastric artery.
- Supplies
- Supplies the upper rectus abdominis, the skin and fascia of the upper anterior abdominal wall and part of the diaphragm.
Anthromica
See the superior epigastric artery 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.
