Suprascapular vein
Vena suprascapularis
A vein of the shoulder and lower neck that drains the back of the scapula and crosses above the clavicle to reach the external jugular vein.
At a glance
- English
- Suprascapular vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena suprascapularis
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the suprascapular vein
The suprascapular vein is the companion of the suprascapular artery. It is often double for part of its length, the two channels uniting before they end. It collects blood from the muscles lying on the posterior surface of the scapula and carries it forwards across the root of the neck, finishing in the external jugular vein just above the clavicle, or occasionally in the subclavian vein.
Its tributaries arise in the infraspinous and supraspinous fossae, draining infraspinatus and supraspinatus as well as the bone and the shoulder and acromioclavicular joints. From the supraspinous fossa the vein, with the artery, passes over the superior transverse scapular ligament that bridges the suprascapular notch. The suprascapular nerve, by contrast, runs beneath that ligament through the notch itself, a useful way to separate the structures in dissection.
Beyond the notch the vein runs forwards and medially behind and parallel to the clavicle, crossing the lower part of the posterior triangle of the neck and passing in front of the scalene muscles and the brachial plexus. It lies close to the transverse cervical vein, which often ends alongside it in the external jugular. Around the scapula its tributaries join those of the circumflex scapular and dorsal scapular veins, part of a venous network matching the scapular arterial anastomosis.
Clinically the vein is a landmark rather than a common site of disease. It is met during supraclavicular approaches to the brachial plexus and in decompression of the suprascapular nerve at the notch, where the accompanying vessels must be identified and protected. Because it joins the external jugular low in the neck, it may also be encountered when that vein is used for access.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begins from tributaries in the supraspinous and infraspinous fossae on the back of the scapula.
- Drains into
- Ends in the external jugular vein low in the neck, sometimes in the subclavian vein.
- Drains
- Drains supraspinatus, infraspinatus, the scapula and nearby joints of the shoulder girdle.
Anthromica
See the suprascapular 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.
