Subscapular artery

Lateral view, left side

The subscapular artery is the largest lateral branch of the axillary artery. It marks the end of the axillary artery and the beginning of the brachial artery. It arises from the distal third of the axillary artery on the posterior surface. In the cat it has two branches, the caudal humeral circumflex and the thoracodorsal. It continues between the subscapularis and teres major and it sends branches to the subscapularis, long head of the triceps brachii and latissimus dorsi. It then continues over the surface of the infraspinatus muscle and serves the infraspinatus, supraspinatus, acromiotrapezius and spinotrapezius. Occasionally it gives rise to the cranial humeral circumflex artery, although that vessel is more often a branch of the brachial artery. In humans the subscapular artery serves the posterior wall of the axilla and the posterior scapular region and has just the two terminal branches, the thoracodorsal artery and the circumflex scapular artery.