Most of the venous blood from the tissues of the face is drained into the internal jugular vein (Read more!). Extracranial veins of the face form several important connections with the intracranial veins. These also include a clinically relevant pathway involving the cavernous sinus.

Facial vein

The facial vein (Read more!) is the major vein draining the face. Its point of origin is near the medial corner of the orbit as the supratrochlear (frontal) (Read more!) and supraorbital veins (Read more!) come together to form the angular vein (Read more!).

The angular vein becomes the facial vein as it proceeds inferiorly and assumes a position just posterior to the facial artery. The facial vein descends across the face adjacent to the facial artery until it reaches the inferior border of the mandible. Here, the facial vein passes superficial to the submandibular gland to enter the internal jugular vein.

Throughout its course, the facial vein receives tributaries from veins draining the eyelids, nose, lips, cheeks, and chin. These tributaries accompany the various branches of the facial artery.

Transverse facial vein

The transverse facial vein (Read more!) is a small vein that accompanies the transverse facial artery in its journey across the face. It empties into the superficial temporal vein (Read more!) within the substance of the parotid gland.

Intracranial venous connections

As the facial vein crosses the face, it has numerous connections with venous channels passing into deeper regions of the head:

Near the medial corner of the orbit, the facial vein communicates with the ophthalmic veins.
In the area of the cheek, it communicates with veins passing into the infraorbital foramen.
It also communicates with veins passing into deeper regions of the face (i.e., the deep facial vein (Read more!), which is connected with the pterygoid venous plexus).

All these venous channels have interconnections with the intracranial cavernous sinus through emissary veins that connect intracranial veins with the extracranial veins. There are no valves in the facial vein or any other venous channels in the head, so blood can move in any direction. Because of the interconnections between the veins, infections of the face, primarily above the mouth (i.e., the “danger area”), should be handled with great care to prevent the dissemination of infectious material in an intracranial direction.

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Venous drainage of face