Axillary artery

Looks like

The main artery of the armpit, running from the outer edge of the first rib to the lower edge of the teres major muscle, behind the pectoralis minor.

What it does

Carries all the blood for the arm and gives branches to the chest wall, shoulder and shoulder blade.

Keeping it well

Can be torn in shoulder dislocation or crushed by crutches. A cold, pale, pulseless arm after an injury is an emergency.

Related conditions

• Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis)
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Shoulder dislocation
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)