Anatomy - Subclavian artery branches

Link to PayPal donation Head and neck anatomy - Branches of the subclavian artery. The right subclavian artery arises from the brachiocephalic trunk behind the right sternoclavicular joint at the root of neck. The left subclavian artery arises from the arch of aorta in the thorax. It runs upwards on the left mediastinal pleura and makes groove on the left lung and enters the neck by passing behind the left sternoclavicular joint. On each side, the subclavian artery arches laterally across the anterior surface of the cervical pleura onto the first rib posterior to the scalenus anterior muscle. At the outer border of 1st rib, it ends by becoming axillary artery. Branches: vertebral artery, internal thoracic artery, thyrocervical trunk, , costocervical trunk, dorsal scapular artery (sometimes).