Dorsal metacarpal veins: anatomic variation and potential clinical implications

The dorsal metacarpal veins are frequently cannulated. Cannulation success is determined by several variable anatomic features. The objective of this study is to classify, for the first time, the anatomic variants of the dorsal metacarpal veins. In this cross-sectional study, 520 university students...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anatomical science international 2018-03, Vol.93 (2), p.238-243
Main Authors: Elmegarhi, Sara S., Amarin, Justin Z., Hadidi, Maher T., Badran, Darwish H., Massad, Islam M., Bani-Hani, Amjad M., Shatarat, Amjad T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anatomic Variation
Anatomy
Animal Anatomy
Animal Physiology
Asymmetry
Cannulation
Catheterization, Peripheral
Cell Biology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Frequency distribution
Hand - blood supply
Histology
Human Physiology
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Metacarpal
Metacarpal Bones - blood supply
Morphology
Neurosciences
Original Article
Sexual dimorphism
Variation
Veins & arteries
Veins - anatomy & histology
Young Adult
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Summary:The dorsal metacarpal veins are frequently cannulated. Cannulation success is determined by several variable anatomic features. The objective of this study is to classify, for the first time, the anatomic variants of the dorsal metacarpal veins. In this cross-sectional study, 520 university students and staff were conveniently recruited. The dorsal metacarpal veins in 1040 hands were studied. Venous visibility was enhanced by either tourniquet application or near-infrared illumination. Variant patterns of the dorsal metacarpal veins were classified. The final analysis included 726 hands, for an exclusion rate of 30 %. Eight pattern types were identified. Three anatomic features informed the variation. Bilateral symmetry of the dorsal metacarpal veins was present in 352 participants (83 % of the total). The overall frequency distribution of variants in both hands was similar ( P  = 0.8). The frequency distribution of variants was subject to sexual dimorphism ( P  = 0.001), ethnic variation ( P  
ISSN:1447-6959
1447-073X
DOI:10.1007/s12565-017-0403-0