Useful Notes on the Internal Jugular Vein of Human Neck | Human Anatomy

Useful Notes on the Internal Jugular Vein of Human Neck!

The internal jugular vein collects the blood from the brain, superficial part of the face and the neck.

It begins as a continuation of sigmoid sinus at the base of the skull in the posterior compartment of the jugular foramen. At the commencement the vein presents a dilatation known as the superior bulb which lodges in the jugular fossa of temporal bone and is related to the floor of tympanic cavity.

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The vein passes downward through the neck within the carotid sheath. Behind the medial end of the clavicle it unites with the subclavian vein to form the corresponding brachiocephalic vein. Close to the termination it presents another dilatation, the inferior bulb, which is guarded above by a pair of valves.



Posteriorly (From above downwards Fig. 4.8)


a. Rectus capitis lateralis;

b. Transverse process of atlas;

c. Levator scapulae;

d. Scalenus medius and cervical plexus of nerves;


e. Scalenus anterior and phrenic nerve;

f. Thyro-cervical trunk and first part of vertebral artery;

g. First part of subclavian artery;

h. Thoracic duct on left side or right lymphatic duct.



1. The vein is overlapped in the upper part and covered in the lower part by the stemo-mastoid. The inferior bulb of the vein lies beneath the lesser supraclavicular space which is a trian­gular interval between the sternal and clavicular heads of the sternomastoid.

2. Crossed by the superior belly of omohyoid and posterior belly of the digastric, under cover of the sternomastoid; + Below the omohyoid—Sternohyoid and sterno- veins with their tributaries and terminations. thyroid muscles, and anterior jugular vein superficial to the infrahyoid muscles;

3. Between omohyoid and digastric

(a) Crossed by sternomastoid branches of superior thyroid and occipital arteries;

(b) Descendens cervicalis and ansa cervicalis; sometimes descendens cervicalis passes deep to the vein;

(c) A chain of deep cervical lymph nodes.

4. Above the digastric

(a) Crossed by occipital and posterior auri­cular arteries;

(b) Accessory nerve passes downward and backward either superficial or deep to the vein;

(c) Parotid gland;

(d) Styloid process and styloid groups of muscles.


1. Common carotid artery in the lower part and internal carotid artery in the upper part.

2. Vagus nerve lies within the carotid sheath between the vein and the aforesaid arteries, and on a more posterior plane.

3. At the base of the skull—Internal carotid artery in front, internal jugular vein behind, and last four cranial nerves intervene between them.



1. Inferior petrosal sinus—It is usually the first tributary and communicates the cavernous sinus with the superior bulb of internal jugular vein after passing through the anterior part of jugular foramen. Sometime a vein from the cochlea may form the first tributary.

2. Pharyngeal veins from the pharyngeal plexus.

3. Common facial vein; the triangular interval between internal jugular, common facial and posterior belly of disgastric is occupied by the jugulo-digastric group of lymph nodes.

4. Lingual vein—Both superficial vein accompanying the hypoglossal nerve and deep lingual vein accompanying the lingual artery drain into the internal jugular vein either separately or as a common trunk.

5. Superior thyroid vein; the confluence of veins from face, tongue and thyroid gland converge towards the tip of the greater cornu of hyoid bone before draining into the internal jugular. Their pattern of termination is variable.

6. Middle thyroid vein—It is a short vessel leaving the middle of thyroid gland, passes laterally in front of carotid sheath and enters the internal jugular vein. It is the first vessel encoun­tered in thyroid operation and requires careful ligation.

7. Sometimes occipital vein;

8. Thoracic duct on left side, or right lymphatic duct on the contralateral side. Each duct opens at the junction of the corresponding subclavian and internal jugular veins.

The first and last tributaries are peculiar, because the former is a venous sinus and the latter is a lymphatic duct.


(a) With external jugular vein in the upper part of neck by means of oblique jugular vein;

(b) With cavernous sinus via inferior petrosal sinus and a plexus of veins around internal carotid artery.

Special observations:

(a) Blood from the superficial cerebral veins tends to drain into the right internal jugular vein after passing successively through the
superior sagittal sinus, right transverse and sigmoid sinuses.

(b) Blood from the deep cerebral veins tends to drain into the left internal jugular vein as it flows successively through the great cerebral vein (of Galen), straight sinus, left transverse and sigmoid sinuses.

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