S25: Injury of blood vessels of thorax

S25.3: Injury of innominate or subclavian vein

Several blood vessels run through the ribcage. For example, there are blood vessels for the heart and lungs, and the head and arms.

Veins are blood vessels that transport the blood back to the heart. The large veins above the heart collect the blood from the head and arms. These veins come together into large chest veins. There is one large chest vein on each side. The blood from the vein from an arm flows directly into the chest vein. You have damaged a large chest vein. It may also be that you have damaged a vein with blood from the arm.

When a blood vessel is damaged, there is usually bleeding. If the bleeding is heavy, blood may collect in the tissue. There may then be some pain. When there is bleeding below the skin, a bruise sometimes forms.