retromandibular vein
The retromandibular vein (temporomaxillary vein, posterior facial vein), formed by the union of the superficial temporal and maxillary veins, descends in the substance of the parotid gland, superficial to the external carotid artery but beneath the facial nerve, between the ramus of the mandible and the sternocleidomastoideus muscle. It divides into two branches: an anterior, which passes forward and unites with the anterior facial vein to form the common facial vein. a posterior, which is joined by the posterior auricular vein and becomes the external jugular vein. [WP,unvetted]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.
What the retromandibular vein is
The retromandibular vein (temporomaxillary vein, posterior facial vein), formed by the union of the superficial temporal and maxillary veins, descends in the substance of the parotid gland, superficial to the external carotid artery but beneath the facial nerve, between the ramus of the mandible and the sternocleidomastoideus muscle. It divides into two branches: an anterior, which passes forward and unites with the anterior facial vein to form the common facial vein. a posterior, which is joined by the posterior auricular vein and becomes the external jugular vein. [WP,unvetted]. The atlas records it as a vein at the organ scale in the human body.
Where the retromandibular vein is
It sits in the head, within the cardiovascular system. Not positioned individually, and containment is not asserted either. Drawn near structures of the same kind, which is a weak claim about location.
What the retromandibular vein connects to
The atlas records 7 typed relationships for it, across 2 kinds of connection. a kind of facial vein.
Supply and innervation
Venous drainage: external jugular vein, anterior auricular vein, maxillary vein, middle temporal vein, superficial temporal vein and transverse facial vein.
Also called
Also recorded as posterior facial vein, vena facialis posterior and vena retromandibularis. Searching any of those names reaches this page.
Source
Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0001656, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
- A kind of: facial vein.
- drains to: external jugular vein, anterior auricular vein, maxillary vein, middle temporal vein, superficial temporal vein and transverse facial vein.
Questions
Where is the retromandibular vein?
It sits in the head, within the cardiovascular system. Not positioned individually, and containment is not asserted either. Drawn near structures of the same kind, which is a weak claim about location.
What does the retromandibular vein connect to?
A kind of: facial vein.
Is the retromandibular vein the same in other species?
Leumas holds the same relationship vocabulary for every species it carries, so where another dataset records this structure you can put the two side by side on /compare.