Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Sphenopalatine artery

Blood vessel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sphenopalatine artery
Remove ads

The sphenopalatine artery (nasopalatine artery) is an artery of the head, commonly known as the artery of epistaxis.[1] It passes through the sphenopalatine foramen to reach the nasal cavity. It is the main artery of the nasal cavity.[2]

Quick Facts Details, Source ...
Remove ads

Course

The sphenopalatine artery is a branch of the maxillary artery which passes through the sphenopalatine foramen into the cavity of the nose, at the back part of the superior meatus. Here it gives off its posterior lateral nasal branches.

Crossing the under surface of the sphenoid, the sphenopalatine artery ends on the nasal septum as the posterior septal branches. Here it will anastomose with the branches of the greater palatine artery.

Remove ads

Clinical significance

The sphenopalatine artery is the artery commonly responsible for epistaxis (difficult to control bleeding of the nasal cavity, especially the posterior nasal cavity).[3] In severe nose bleed cases which do not stop after intense packing of anti-clotting agents, the sphenopalatine artery can be ligated (clipped and then cut) during open surgery or embolized (blocked with surgical glue or tiny microparticles).[4] Embolization is typically done under fluoroscopic guidance with minimally invasive techniques (e.g. via small microcatheters inserted into arteries in the wrist or groin) by interventional radiologists.

Remove ads

See also

References

Public domain This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 562 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

Notes

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads