Macro Anatomical Study Of Facial Nerve In Periorbital Region

The facial nerve pierces the parotid gland and divides into five branches which are the temporal, zygomatic, buccal, mandibular, and cervical branches. Around the orbit, the temporal and zygomatic branches center around the eyeball and circle the orbital structure. They supply the muscles around the orbit. There are 3~5 temporal branches. They cross the zygomatic arch ahead and supply the frontal belly of the occipitofrontalis, orbicularis oculi, corrugator and the muscles around the auris. The zygomatic branch pierces the parotid gland and treads under the fascia of the masseter, then, it gives off 2~3 branches which run ahead and ascend, cross the zygomaticus arch to the lateral angle of eye, it supplies the orbicularis oculi, the zyhomaticus and the procerus muscles.In clinical rhytidectomy, the most common complication is the injury of the temporal branches which causes the hemiparalysis of the frontal belly of the occipitofrontalis. The superficial branch of the zygomatic branches lies on the surface of the temporalis maximus, it easy to be injuried and ignored for the superficial location. The corrugator lies in the superior of the medial supraorbital edge, the deep surface of the orbital part of the orbicularis oculi and the former inferior part of the frontalis, it produces the vertical wrinkles of the nasal and frontal part. The procerus muscles locates upper the joint of the nasal bone and the lateral cartilage, ends at the skin of the medial part of the two eyebrows, it produces the horizontal wrinkles of nasal and frontal part. The rhytidectomy in the past often wipes off the procerus muscles by the coronal incision, also by the incision at the superior and the inferior border of the eyebrow. The way to treat the frontalis paralysis is to cut normal frontal musclar branch from the entrance of the nerve to the muscle. There are no particular reports about how the temporal and the zygomatic branches supply the corrugator and the procerus muscles.This paper combines the general anatomy and the microscope anatomy, anatomizes the adult fresh and formalin fixed head specimen, and uses the way of blood vessels perfusion and the special coloration to analysis how the temporal branches supply the corrugator, and the superficial branches, the type and the supplement to the procerus muscles of the the zygomatic branches. It offers the morphologic evidences for the clinical appliance.The results indicate: 1. The two medial branches of the frontal branch of the facial nerve pierce the anterior border of the parotid gland, run forwards and upwards at the deep surface of the temporal superficial fasica. The medial branch gives off branches from the deep surface of the orbicularis oculi to supply the orbicularis oculi and goes on forwards and gives off two or three branches into the corrugator at the inferior border of the deep surface of the corrugator. The lateral branch is over and almost parallels the medial branch, runs interiorly and mainly gives off one branch into the distant end of the corrugator. These two become reticular anastomose before they come into the corrugator. 2.The present rate of the superficial branch of the zygomatic branches is fairly high in the materials of this group, the superficial and the deep branches also have various branches and anastomose. In the rhytidectomy, when peeling of the zygomatic major muscle we could locate the superficial branch ahead and avoid the injury.