The Important Relationship Between the Radial Artery's Course and the Radius during Henry's Anterior Forearm Surgical Exposure

The aim of this study was to investigate the intersection point of the radial artery (RA) with Henry's approach. Ninety forearms from adult human cadavers which had been embalmed using Thiel's method underwent dissection. Henry's approach was performed alongside the whole length of the forearm, and the RAs course was investigated. Its crossing point with the approach was identified, and the distance from this point to the radial styloid process was determined. In addition, the total radial length (RL) was measured from the radial styloid process to the proximal margin of the radial head. The former measurements were analyzed as proportions with regard to the total RLs. Concerning right radii, the intersection point was, on average, at a proportion of 56.2% of the radius, starting from the tip of the radial styloid process. In left radii, this was located at a mean proportion of 61.2%. In cases of multiply fractured radii, care must be taken at the interval between 40% and 80% to avoid RA lesions during dissection from distal to proximal. Clin. Anat., 33:983–987, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.