Abstract:

Introduction: Axillary artery is the derivative of axis artery of the upperlimb. It is prone to damage during injuries like penetrating wounds, during traumatic dislocation of the shoulder. It is the artery for ligation during amputation procedures of the upperlimb. Compression of the third part against the humerus may be necessary when profuse bleeding occurs. Axillary artery bypass is one of the most commonly performed extra anatomic bypasses in vascular surgery today. Variations are frequent in the axillary artery and significant during vascular surgeries.

Materials & Methods: Exposure of axillary artery and its branches was achieved following classical incisions and dissection procedures in 50 upper limbs of 25 cadavers (15 males & 10 females) of the department of Anatomy, Sri Ramachandra. Medical College, Chennai and all the branches of the axillary artery were studied .During such study, an ususual variation was found in one upper limb. Observation:

Variations in the axillary artery looked for and recorded. A common trunk from the second part for thoracoacromial, lateral thoracic, subscapular and posterior circumflex humeral artery was observed in one of the cases. Superior thoracic artery arose from the first part. Anterior circumflex humeral artery arose from the third part.

Discussion: An axial arterial pattern represented in the adult by axillary artery, brachial artery and interosseous artery of the forearm develops first while other branches develop later from the axial system. The anomalies can be explained by the persistence of embryological vessels. genetic influences, factors like fetal position in utero, first limb movement or unusual musculature

Keywords: axillary artery, axis artery, subscapular artery

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