Sphenopalatine artery

Sphenopalatine artery
Plan of branches of internal maxillary artery. (Sphenopalatine visible in upper right.)
Details
Source	Maxillary artery
Branches	Posterior lateral nasal branches posterior septal branches
Supplies	Frontal, maxillary, ethmoidal, and sphenoidal sinuses
Identifiers
Latin	arteria sphenopalatina
TA98	A12.2.05.088
TA2	4460
FMA	49804
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

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]

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.

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.

See also

• Kiesselbach's plexus

References

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

External links

• lesson4 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (infratempfossaart)
• lesson9 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (nasalseptumart)

Notes