Variation of superficial veins of cubital fossa among students of ardabil University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: There is a wide variation in the superficial veins of the cubital area. These veins are used in many medical procedures and are clinically important. This study aimed to evaluate the variation of the superficial cubital veins in students of the Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. Material and methods: The volunteers were 150 females and 160 males from students of different disciplines of the Ardabil University of Medical Sciences aged between 18 and 26 years. To observe the superficial veins of the cubital fossa, the tourniquet was fastened 10 cm above the medial epicondyle of the humerus. One to 3 min after fastening the tourniquet, superficial veins were visualized. The patterns of superficial veins in both arms of the participants were recorded using the vein finder (Vein Revealer Garrote (VRG) −115). Results: Seven patterns of superficial cubital veins were identified. There was no significant difference between the right and left upper limbs among males and females. The most common type or pattern was N-type, which was more reported in males (70.1% in males and 64.7% in females). The I/0 was the second most observed pattern, which was more common in females (56.7% in females and 49.6% in males). M-shape pattern with a frequency of 46% in males and 31.5% in females was the third most patterns in our study. Other patterns make less than 10% of cases. Conclusion: In general, the present study results show that gender and ethnicity may affect the superficial veins pattern. However, despite the significant similarity between patterns obtained in our study and those of other authors, some differences may be observed, probably related to the examined sample (cadaveric material or living sample).

Keywords

• Anatomical variation
• Basilic vein
• Cephalic vein
• Cubital fossa
• Median cubital vein
• Superficial veins