<h2>Axillary artery</h2>

Axillary artery

• Continuation of subclavian artery
• Starts at the outer border of the first rib and ends at the inferior of teres major muscle
• It is divided into three parts by pectoralis minor muscle (see figure)

first part





second part (under pectoralis minor)


third part

• The branches of the axillary artery supply the shoulder and the chest wall
• Easily remembered, the first, second and third parts give rise to one, two and three branches respectively.
• First part - superior thoracic A
• Second part - acromiothoracic trunk, lateral thoracic A
• Third part - subscapular A, anterior circumflex A and posterior circumflex A

Applied Anatomy

All the axillary artery branches except the circumflex vessels are seen during axillary dissection of a radical mastectomy for breast cancer