Ulnar recurrent artery

The ulnar recurrent artery divides in two branches

• The anterior branch (anterior ulnar recurrent artery ; a. recurrentes ulnaris anterior) arises immediately below the elbow-joint, runs upward between the Brachialis and Pronator teres, supplies twigs to those muscles, and, in front of the medial epicondyle, anastomoses with the superior and inferior ulnar collateral arteries.

• The posterior branch (posterior ulnar recurrent artery ; a. recurrentes ulnaris posterior) is much larger, and arises somewhat lower than the preceding. It passes backward and medialward on the Flexor digitorum profundus, behind the Flexor digitorum sublimis, and ascends behind the medial epicondyle of the humerus. In the interval between this process and the olecranon, it lies beneath the Flexor carpi ulnaris, and ascending between the heads of that muscle, in relation with the ulnar nerve, it supplies the neighboring muscles and the elbow-joint, and anastomoses with the superior and inferior ulnar collateral and the interosseous recurrent arteries.

In the Terminologia Anatomica 2, the anterior and posterior ulnar recurrent arteries are considered as direct branches of the ulnar artery (and the term "ulnar recurrent artery" is not recommended).