Tributaries of Internal Jugular Vein IJV
What are the tributaries of Internal Jugular Vein? DNB ENT April 2016
Internal jugular vein
Internal jugular vein provides the venous return from the skull, brain, upper face and neck. It originates (where it has a superior bulb) as the continuation of the sigmoid sinus in the jugular foramen of the skull and sometimes receives the inferior petrosal sinus as shown in above figure.
The internal jugular vein enters the neck (from the head) by passing deep to the posterior belly of digastric. It descends through the carotid triangle and root of neck lateral to the internal carotid artery (above) and common carotid artery (below). The internal jugular vein is within the carotid sheath but this is thin over the vein to enable room for it to expand.
The internal jugular vein terminates (where it has an inferior bulb with a bicuspid valve) directly behind the sternoclavicular joint by uniting with the subclavian vein to form the brachiocephalic vein. The internal jugular vein may receive the jugular lymph trunk here.
Mnemonic to remember Tributaries of Internal Jugular Vein
From inferior to superior: Medical Schools Let Fun People In
M: middle thyroid vein
S: superior thyroid vein
L: lingual vein
F: facial vein
P: pharyngeal vein
I: inferior petrosal sinus
The facial vein passes across the lower border of the body of the mandible where it joins the anterior division of the retromandibular vein to form the common facial vein. This short but stout tributary enters the internal jugular vein in the carotid triangle. The lingual vein emerges from the root of the tongue and runs just above the greater cornu of the hyoid bone to enter the internal jugular vein either directly or via the common facial vein.
The superior and middle thyroid veins drain directly into the internal jugular vein which lies adjacent to the thyroid gland.