Anatomical variations of superficial venous patternsof thecubital region in adult Sudanese

In many clinical practices, the superficial veins of the cubital region are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes; therefore, detailed knowledge of these veins is important for safe venipuncture.  This study aimed to identify the anatomical variations of the venous patterns of the Sudanese cubital region, to perform a safe venipuncture. Venous patterns of the cubital region of 290 adult participants were studied in the Khartoum states, Sudan, between May and August 2023. The study was carried out at room temperature and in good light, using a tourniquet and a digital camera. Data were analyzed using SSPS16 software and frequencies, percentages, and P-values were taken. of the participants studied, (55.2%) males, (44.8%) females, with a mean age (31.2 ±2.8 SD) year. Five different venous patterns were identified based on their anastomosis. The commonest venous pattern was the M-shaped (39.7%) followed by the N-shaped (30.0%), while H-shaped, Y-shaped, and 11-shaped were (14.8%, 11.7%, 3.8%), respectively.  H-shaped (39.3%) and Y-shaped (35.9%) were commonest on the right side, M-shaped (45.5%) and N-shaped (34.5%) were commonest on the left side, while 11-shaped (3.4%) were less observed on both sides.  Statistically significant differences were found between cubital region venous patterns, both genders and the right and the left body sides, (P<0.05).  The commonest venous patterns in the cubital region of both genders are M-shaped and N-shaped, while the 11-shaped is less common. A good knowledge of anatomical variations of the venous patterns in this region is very useful for performing safe venipunctures in emergency circumstances.