Quick Facts
The lingual artery provides the majority of blood supply to the tongue via its dorsal and deep lingual branches.
Description
The lingual artery provides the majority of blood supply to the tongue via its dorsal and deep lingual branches.
The lingual artery is derived from the external carotid artery. It moves towards the bottom of the oral cavity, sharply meandering upwards and proceeding to the tip of the tongue, where it joins with its fellow lingual artery of the opposite side. Here they form a dense anastomosis to richly supply the surround musculature with blood.
The dorsal lingual branch of the lingual artery supplies the posterior third of the tongue. They provide blood to the mucous membrane and surrounding structures of the oropharynx. These include the palatine tonsils, soft palate, epiglottis, and palatoglossal arches. This supply is consolidated by the formation of anastomosis among the dorsal lingual arteries. There is partial contribution to this by branches from the superior laryngeal anastomoses.
The deep lingual artery is the terminal branch of the lingual artery. At the anterior border of the hyoglossus muscle, it ascends between the inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue laterally and the genioglossus muscle medially. It passes forwards in a tortuous manner near the lingual surface adjacent to the frenulum. Here it is accompanied by the lingual nerve.
Venous drainage occurs via the lingual vein and its tributaries. The lingual vein is formed by the joining of the dorsal and deep lingual veins. The dorsum and sides of the tongue are drained by dorsal lingual veins, while the tip of the tongue and deeper mass are drained by the deep lingual vein. The lingual vein travels between the hyoglossus and genioglossus muscles to link up to the internal jugular vein.
