Corpus: Cubital fossa

The cubital fossa is a pit defined by the surrounding muscles in the area of the elbow, which contains important pathways for the forearm.

The cubital fossa is bounded by the following structures:

• proximal: biceps brachii muscle
• medial: pronator teres muscle
• lateral: brachioradialis muscle

The floor of the elbow fossa is formed by the brachialis muscle. On the outside, the cubital fossa is covered by the fascia brachii and fascia antebrachii, among others.

Nerves[Bearbeiten]

The median nerve enters the cubital fossa on the medial side of the brachial artery in front of the insertion of the brachialis muscle.

The radial nerve divides in the crook of the elbow into its two terminal branches, the motor ramus profundus and the sensory ramus superficialis. There are also two cutaneous nerves in the crook of the elbow:

• Nervus cutaneus antebrachii medialis: It supplies sensation to the ventral and dorsal parts of the medial side of the forearm.
• Lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve: This is the terminal branch of the musculocutaneous nerve and supplies the ventral and part of the dorsal parts of the lateral side (radial side) of the forearm.

Arteries[Bearbeiten]

The only artery located in the crook of the elbow is the brachial artery, which is divided into the radial artery and the ulnar artery.

Veins[Bearbeiten]

Above the fascia there are several cutaneous veins with variable connections between them:

• Cephalic vein: collects blood from the lateral side of the hand and forearm and drains via it to the upper arm.
• Vena basilica: The blood of the medial side of the hand and forearm belongs to its tributary area.
• Vena mediana cubiti: It connects the two aforementioned veins and is often used for blood collection.

Bursa bicipitora[Bearbeiten]

• Bursa bicipitoradialis
• Bursa cubitalis interossea (inconstant)