The surgical management of a symptomatic aberrant superficial palmar branch of the radial artery

Abstract

The radial artery is known to have anatomical variants but these only very rarely present symptomatically. Here we present a case report of an abnormal superficial branch of the radial artery lying superficial to the thenar muscles and causing thenar eminence pain. Our patient is a 26 year old female presenting with thenar pain and swelling with no prior history of trauma. Thenar pain was elicited with repetitive movements and prevented by occluding the radial artery, however after release of the artery the pain then returned. We present ultrasound imaging confirming the presence of this rare anatomical variant at the location of the patient’s pain as well as the first description and intraoperative photographs in the literature to delineate a surgical technique to excise the aberrant blood vessel, resulting in successful resolution of symptoms.