Common facial vein

The common facial vein is formed by the union of the anterior division of the retromandibular vein with the facial vein.

The common facial vein crosses the external carotid artery and enters the internal jugular vein (IJV) at a variable point below the hyoid bone. From near its termination on IJV, the superior thyroid vein may terminate on the common facial vein (instead of direct termination on the internal jugular vein), this part of the common facial is termed as common thyrolinguofacial trunk by some authors.