Morphological characteristics of the infraorbital foramen and infraorbital

Abstract

Infraorbital nerve blocking through the infraorbital foramen and infraorbital canal is used to anesthetize the lower eyelid, upper lip, lateral nose, upper teeth and related gingivae. For this, it is important to know the position of the infraorbital foramen, structures around the foramen, and the direction of the injecting needle related to the angle of the infraorbital canal. Many reports have described the anatomical location of the infraorbital foramen; however, not many have described the angle of the infraorbital canal and those structures around the infraorbital foramen that help the physician visualize the correct direction of the needle. Dried skulls of 42 Korean subjects (27 male and 15 female) were studied to analyze structures around the infraorbital foramen. The morphology of the infraorbital canal was also investigated using three-dimensional models. Structures around the infraorbital foramen were classified into four types according to the existence of a