5. Dissect the root of the neck to expose the subclavian arteries and their branches, the cervical sympathetic trunk and its ganglia, and the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
In order to visualize the subclavian artery, reflect the subclavian vein as shown. The subclavian artery is subdivided into three parts by the anterior scalene muscle. The first portion of the subclavian has three branches: the vertebral artery, the thyrocervical trunk with its inferior thyroid, transverse cervical and superscapular arteriole branches and the internal thoracic artery. The second part has one branch, the costocervical trunk, which is not apparent in this shot. The third part of the subclavian artery has the dorsal scapular artery branching from it.