Vascular-Nerve Bundle

VASCULAR-NERVE BUNDLE, as the name indicates, usually contains vessels and nerves and is surrounded by a common sheath, the so-called vascular-nerve sheath. From the vessels in the v.-n. bundle are located an artery, one or two veins, and lymphatic vessels. From the nerves—either a nerve of the given area or the trunks of the corresponding plexus, for example, the trunks of the brachial plexus around the a. axillaris. The vascular-nerve sheath usually contains, besides the main trunk, arteries and veins, also small arteries and veins for nourishing the sheath wall itself. The vascular-nerve sheath is the result of the contractile activity of the vessels and mainly of the artery. The younger the subject, the less pronounced is the vascular-nerve sheath in him. In children's cadavers, the nerve is usually larger in volume than the corresponding artery. The internal topography of the vessels and nerves of the v.-n. bundle is not always the same. The number of elements in the bundle is not always the same either. For the topography of individual vascular-nerve bundles, see Neck, Shoulder, Popliteal Fossa.