Objectives: to describe the radial artery and its variants in origin, branching pattern, mode of termination, measurements of its length and external diameter.Methods: 100 upper limbs of 30 men & 20 women adult cadavers were used in this study. The cadavers were obtained from the Anatomy department, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The axillary region, arm, forearm and hand of each limb were dissected to clarify the course and branches of radial artery. This anatomical descriptive study was conducted between September, 2010 and August, 2012 after approval the ethical committee.Results: the mean distance of the normal origin of radial artery as one of two terminal branches of brachial artery was 38.7±9.5mm in men & 36.5±8.5mm in women upper limbs below the intercondylar line while, variant origin of radial artery was found in eight limbs. The mean of radial artery length was 226.2±21.7mm in men and 209.9 ±13.9 mm in women limbs and that of its external diameter was 3.3 ±0.7 mm in men & 3.2±0.66mm in women at 1 cm distal to its origin; 3.1±0.73 mm in men & 3.0±0.66 in women at 2cm proximal to styloid process of radius. The radial artery showed different branching patterns and three modes of termination.Conclusion: Knowledge of radial artery description and its variants has great importance in different clinical fields and basic medical studies
