Study On Hsiakuan Point Topography And The Neurons' Location

Objective: Topography oberservation of Hsiakuan point and the location of the afferent neurons and the efferent neurons to provide the morphological foundation for Hsiakuan point acupuncture research. Materials and methods:1. Hsiakuan point topography and oberservation.2. Using 20 Wistar rats of 4-month old, Giving injection to their Hsiakuan point on right side with 20%HRP , living within 48 hours, routine perfusion and fixing, extraction the brain stem and the trigemmal ganglion, continuous frozen sections staining by TMB method, compound staining by the neutral red. Observing labelled cells with light microscope.Results:1. Hsiakuan point topography and oberservation: From superficial to deep: the skin, the superficial fascia, the parotid fascia, the parotid gland, the masseter, the space between the zygomatic process of the temporal bone and the mandibular notch, the lateral pterygoid muscle. Little fat, the transverse facial artery, the transverse facialvein and the temporal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve on the superficial fascia layer; the maxillary artery and its onset branches(the middle meningeal artery,the masseteric artery,the deep temporal arteries),the masseteric nerve,the deep temporal nerves on the superficial layer of lateral pterygoid muscle;the mandibular nerve and its onset branches(the lingual nerve,the inferior alveolar nerve, the masseteric nerve,the deep temporal nerves,the nerve to lateral pterygoidjthe buccinator nerve) on the deep layer of the lateral pterygoid muscle.2. The location of the afferent neurons and the efferent neurons :Giving Injection to the rat Hsiakuan point with 20%HRP , to find labelled cells in the trigeminal ganglion ,the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve ,the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve ,the nucleus of the facial nerve under light microscope. Conclutions:1. The topography and oberservation confirm the fact that the acupoint is a steric of the several tissues structure not a single structure. There are many blood vessels and nerves nearby the acupoint.2. According to the results of HRP, Hsiakuan point afferent neurons come from the trigeminal ganglion and the mesencephalic nucleus of trigeminal nerve. Hsiakuan point efferent neurons come from the motor nucleus of trigeminal nerve and the nucleus of facial nerve.3. The results provide morphological foundation to the treatment of prosopalgia, disorders of temporomandibular joint and faparalysis by Hsiakuan point acupuncture.