Abnormal course of the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery.

The structures in the carpal tunnel are the flexor muscle tendons and their sheaths and the median n. Due to the inflexibility of its walls, any swelling of its contents that produces decrease of its volume, may compress the median n. There are many possible causes of nerve compression, such as the presence of arteries in this tunnel [3, 13]. The carpal tunnels of 70 hands of 35 adult cadavers of both sexes, whose age ranged from 23 to 77 years, were studied by dissection. An abnormal course of the superficial palmar branch of the radial a. was found in 2 hands (2.85%). This vascular branch passed through the carpal tunnel. This unusual course of the superficial palmar branch of the radial a. is described with details correlating its presence in the carpal tunnel with the median n.