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STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY



I.  ARTERIES 
For each artery you should know its:
            • commencement and parent vessel.
            • course, particularly where the vessel's pulsations
               are palpable or where it is exposed to injury.
            • major branches and mode of termination.
            • area of supply.
            • degree of anastomosis with other major vessels.

II. VEINS 
For each vein you should know:
            • its commencement, remember that this is distal.
            • its course, particularly where the vein can be punctured
               with a needle for  intravenous administration or withdrawals.
            • Areas that are subject to trauma.
            • the extent of any valves within the veins.
            • mode of termination and major tributaries.
            • area of drainage
            • degree of anastomosis with other veins, particularly
              between the deep and superficial.

III. NERVES
For any nerve you should consider;
            • the types of fiber(s) that it contains:
                     a. somatic - serving the skin and musculoskeletal
                         system
                           1. motor (efferent)
                           2. sensory (afferent)
                     b. autonomic - serving the viscera, glands and
                          blood vessels.
                     c. origin of the various fibers.
            • the course of the nerve, particularly where it is palpable
              or subject to trauma.
            • its major branches and the structures (muscles, skin, joints,
              organs) supplied.
            • in the case of motor branches to muscles, the motor deficit
               that trauma to that branch would effect.

  IV. LYMPHATICS 
Lymphatic vessels cannot be detected by routine examination of a living subject unless they are enlarged. They are also difficult to dissect. They can be demonstrated radiologically after injection of radio-opaque dyes. It is, however, very important for you to be familiar with the lymphatic drainage of an area since both infection and malignant tumors can spread by this route. Here are some considerations 

1.        superficial lymphatics that drain an area tend to run with veins;
           deep ones tend to run with arteries. (as with veins, the division
           between superficial and deep lymphatics is determined by the
           deep fascia). 

2.        the primary lymph nodes into which the lymphatics drain and
           the extent to which these can be palpated. 

3.        the route whereby lymph returns to the blood stream. 

4.        the degree of anastomosis; in general there is considerable
           anastomosis between the lymphatics serving adjacent areas
           so that, when lymphatics are blocked by tumor, nodes not
           normally draining an area can become involved. However, in
           the leg, there is relatively little anastomosis between the
           superficial and deep lymphatics.  

V.  MUSCLE ACTION 

We study the actions of muscles as a foundation for more advanced work on how the CNS controls movement in health. Furthermore, in cases of acute injury or disease of the spinal segments, roots, plexuses or motor nerves, you should be able to determine which of the major muscles are paralyzed. It is unreasonable to ask a patient to contract a named muscle. You should know what movement to ask the patient to carry out against resistance in order to decide whether the muscle of interest is contracting or not. Blood supply to muscles. Although muscles need a good blood supply, the details of the local arteries of supply are rarely of importance. In general, adjacent arteries supply a muscle, and there is a major point of entrance of the neurovascular bundle. The two ends of a muscle receive their supply locally.