Lingual veins

Vein: Lingual veins
Veins of the tongue. (Lingual vein labeled at left.)
Latin	Vena lingualis
Gray's	subject #168 648
Drains from	Tongue
Drains to	Internal jugular vein
Artery	Lingual artery

The lingual veins begin on the dorsum, sides, and under surface of the tongue, and, passing backward along the course of the lingual artery, end in the internal jugular vein.

The vena comitans of the hypoglossal nerve (ranine vein), a branch of considerable size, begins below the tip of the tongue, and may join the lingual; generally, however, it passes backward on the hyoglossus, and joins the common facial.

The lingual veins are important clinically as they are capable of rapid absorption of drugs; for this reason, nitroglycerin is given under the tongue to patients suspected of having angina pectoris.

Tributaries

1. Sublingual vein
2. Deep lingual vein
3. Dorsal lingual veins
4. Suprahyoid vein

External links

• Photo of model (frog)
• Lingual+vein at eMedicine Dictionary

References

Moore NA and Roy W. Rapid Review: Gross Anatomy. Elsevier, 2010.

This article incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy.