Cardiovascular system · Upper limb
Digital arteries !
The digital arteries run along both sides of each finger with the digital nerves; they bring blood to the fingers.
Official name: Palmar digital arteries
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What it is
Small arteries along each side of every finger, beside the digital nerves.
What it does
Feed the fingers.
Key facts
- Origin
- Superficial palmar arch (common palmar digital) and deep arch (palmar metacarpal)
- Branches
- Proper palmar digital arteries on each side of each finger
- Supplies
- Fingers
Relations
- Course
- Common palmar digital arteries leave the superficial palmar arch, receive palmar metacarpal arteries from the deep arch and split near the web spaces into proper digital arteries that run along the sides of adjacent fingers to the fingertip, where they form an arcade
- Superficial
- In the palm the arteries are superficial to the digital nerves; in the fingers the digital nerves lie on their palmar side
- Deep
- Flexor tendon sheaths and the sides of the phalanges
How to find it
On each side of the finger, a little toward the palm from the midline of its side; Doppler shows the flow. The colour, warmth and capillary refill of the fingertip reflect their patency.
Examination
- Digital Allen test: both digital arteries of a finger are compressed and then released one at a time; delayed refill from one side suggests that artery is injured or blocked
On imaging
Doppler ultrasound and angiography show the palmar digital arteries along each side of the finger, next to the digital nerves. In Raynaud phenomenon and scleroderma, angiography may show narrowed or blocked digital arteries; in hypothenar hammer syndrome, emboli cut off flow to individual fingers. Doppler also checks flow after finger replantation.
Clinical notes
- A cut on the side of a finger usually injures the digital nerve and artery together; numbness on that side raises suspicion that the artery is cut too
- Raynaud phenomenon is spasm of these arteries: fingers turn white, then blue, then red with cold or stress
- Dupuytren cords, especially the spiral cord, can push the bundle toward the midline and the surface, putting it at risk during surgery
- Finger replantation joins at least one digital artery under the microscope
Memory aid
With the hand palm down: "Grayson's on the ground, Cleland's on the ceiling".
Related conditions
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
Which arteries supply the back of the middle and distal phalanges, including the nail bed?
The palmar digital arteries, not the dorsal ones.
Between which ligaments is the digital neurovascular bundle held?
Grayson's ligament on the palmar side and Cleland's ligament on the dorsal side.
What is Raynaud phenomenon in the digital arteries?
Spasm of the digital arteries: fingers turn white, then blue, then red with cold or stress.
Educational information, not medical advice. For any symptom, see a health professional.
Its names
- Official Latin (TA2)
- arteriae digitales palmares communes TA2 4672
- Official Spanish (DeCS)
- Arterias digitales palmares comunes y propias; arterias metacarpianas palmares
- English (TA2)
- Palmar digital arteries
Related
- Digital nerves
- Proximal phalanx, index finger
- Proximal phalanx, middle finger
- Proximal phalanx, ring finger
- Proximal phalanx, little finger
- Finger pulleys
Sources: Terminologia Anatomica (TA2); Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Hand Arteries.
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.
