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Variations and thicknesses of anterior belly of the digastric muscle: an ultrasonographic study

  • Head and Neck
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the anatomy and anatomical variations of the anterior belly of the digastric muscle.

Methods

Hundred and fifty one ultrasonographic images of the digastric muscle pairs were evaluated in Near East University Faculty of Dentistry Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology. Morphological variations were recorded using the classification of the digastric muscle into 12 types by Kim et al. For the analysis, the Mann–Whitney U test and Chi-square test were used, and for the correlational analysis, Spearman's rho test was applied. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant in all tests.

Results

Seventy female and 81 male patients aged 19–60 years were evaluated. Type 1 digastric muscle was observed in 145 of 151 patients, Type 2 in 3 patients, and Type 7 in 3 patients. The thicknesses of the right and left digastric muscles were measured, and a statistically significant difference was observed between the groups when the genders were compared. It was observed that both right and left digastric muscle thicknesses were higher in males than females. There was a statistically significant positive high correlation between right and left digastric muscle thicknesses (p = 0.000; r = 0.736). No statistically significant difference was found between genders (p = 0.596) in terms of anatomical variations.

Conclusion

Considering that the variations of the digastric muscle may have a clinical significance role, the normal anatomy and variations of this muscle should be well known by maxillofacial surgeons and radiologists.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Gürkan Ünsal

  2. Tepebaşı Oral and Dental Health Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Sevde Göksel

  3. Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Hülya Çakır Karabaş

  4. Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Biruni University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ahmet Faruk Ertürk & İlknur Özcan

  5. Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Cengiz Evli, Merve Önder & Kaan Orhan

Authors
  1. Gürkan Ünsal
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  2. Sevde Göksel
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  3. Hülya Çakır Karabaş
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  4. Ahmet Faruk Ertürk
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  5. İlknur Özcan
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  6. Cengiz Evli
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  7. Merve Önder
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  8. Kaan Orhan
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Correspondence to Gürkan Ünsal.

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Ünsal, G., Göksel, S., Çakır Karabaş, H. et al. Variations and thicknesses of anterior belly of the digastric muscle: an ultrasonographic study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 411–418 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08207-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08207-2

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