Retrovascular Submandibular Nodes (Right)
Nodi submandibulares retrovasculares
Read moreQuick Facts
Location: Posterior to the facial vein at the inferior border of the mandible.
Drainage: Submandibular and sublingual glands, inferior oral cavity, tongue, palate, gingiva, teeth, and skin covering the eyelids, lips, nose, and chin.
Direction of Flow: Jugulodigastric nodes > internal jugular nodes > supraclavicular nodes > jugular trunk > thoracic duct (left) or right lymphatic duct.
Description
The retrovascular submandibular nodes are the largest of the submandibular nodes. They lie behind the facial vein at the inferior border of the mandible. These nodes act as a secondary filter for lymphatic fluid collected from other submandibular nodes, as many of them drain here before entering the jugulodigastric and internal jugular nodes.
Due to the diffuse afferents, it has a wide collection territory encompassing much of the face and the oral cavity.
It has efferent vessels connecting it to the jugulodigastric node and, thus, lymph drains to the deep lateral cervical nodes (Földi et al., 2012).
List of Clinical Correlates
—Oral, tooth or cutaneous infections or malignancies
References
Földi, M., Földi, E., Strößenreuther, R. and Kubik, S. (2012) Földi's Textbook of Lymphology: for Physicians and Lymphedema Therapists. Elsevier Health Sciences.
