Anatomical relationship of facial nerve with extratemporal markers and surgical significance

Abstract

Purpose: Localization of the facial nerve trunk may be required during various surgical interventions such as parotidectomy. In these surgical applications, various and reliable landmarks are used to determine the localization of the facial nerve trunk. This anatomical cadaver study aims to evaluate the anatomical relationship between the facial nerve trunk, tragal pointer and mastoid tip.Methods: Adult cadaver heads were used in 12 (6 Female -6 Male) fresh frozen cadavers included in the cadaver collection of Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy. Measurements were taken by determining the lower end of the Tragal pointer (TP) and the tip of the mastoid process (M) surrounding the nerve. Results:The mean distance between facial nerve truncus and tragal pointer was 6,538 mm; the tip of the mastoid process, 8,225 mm. Facial nerve truncus is approximately 8.446 mm deep to the line extending between the Tragal pointer-Mastoid tip. Conclusion:Tragal pointer and mastoid tip can be used separately for the detection of the facial nerve trunk, and it has also been observed that it can be found reliably in the depth of the plane passing through these two structures.