Video - Vessels and nerves of the hand

The arterial blood supply to the hand mainly comes from the radial and the ulnar artery. Within the hand, both the ulnar and radial arteries divide into branches that anastomose into superficial palmar arch and deep palmar branches. The superficial palmar arch gives three branches called the common palmar digital arteries, whereas the deep palmar arch gives off the princeps pollicis artery to supply the thumb, the radialis indicis artery to supply the index finger, and the three palmar metacarpal arteries to supply their other digits.

The hand has superficial and deep veins. On the dorsal side, the superficial veins form the dorsal venous network which drain into dorsal metacarpal veins in the hand, contributing to two major veins in the forearm: the cephalic vein on the lateral side, and the basilic vein that runs medially. On its palmar side, the hand has superficial and deep palmar venous palmar arches, which drain into the deep veins of the forearm.

Finally, the hand is innervated by three main nerves, which are the median, ulnar and radial nerves. The median nerve innervates some of the thenar muscles, the lateral lumbricals, and provides the sensation to the palm, and the distal parts of the lateral 3 and part of the fourth digits. The ulnar nerve innervates most of the intrinsic hand muscles, and provides the sensory innervation to the dorsal and palmar surfaces of the fifth and part of the fourth digits. Finally, the radial nerve does not innervate any muscle in the hand. It provides sensory innervation to the skin of the lateral half of the dorsal part of the hand and thumb. It also innervates the proximal parts of the second, third, and half of the fourth digits, on their dorsal side.