Abstract
Purpose
The facial artery is known to show variations in its origin, course, termination, and branching pattern. This study aimed to present a case with trifurcation of the facial artery at the inferior border of the mandible accompanied by variable branches.
Methods
During our routine head dissection, it was observed that a 67-year-old male cadaver had a trifurcation of the facial artery at the level of the lower border of the mandible on the left. The skin was reflected, and the subcutaneous fatty tissue and subcutaneous layers were dissected to reveal the triple facial artery.
Results
The left facial artery arising from the external carotid artery entered the face with three branches as it crossed the lower border of the mandible. The three branches are the anterior, intermediate, and posterior branches. The posterior branch passed in front of the anterior border of the masseter muscle along with the facial vein and gave off muscular branches with a straight course, whereas the anterior thickest curved branch terminated by the inferior labial artery, and a tortuous intermediate branch initially gave off the superior labial artery and then terminated by the angular artery.
Conclusion
Understanding these variational branches of the triple facial artery and their relationships is crucial for avoiding complications in reconstructive and reparative maxillofacial, craniofacial and plastic surgery in order to mitigate the risk of damage to the facial artery during flap surgery.
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Abbreviations
- AA:
-
Angular artery
- AB:
-
Anterior branch
- FA:
-
Facial artery
- FN:
-
Facial nerve
- FV:
-
Facial vein
- IB:
-
Intermediate branch
- IBM:
-
Inferior border of mandible
- IJV:
-
Internal jugular vein
- ILA:
-
Inferior labial artery
- LNA:
-
Lateral nasal artery
- MM:
-
Masseter muscle
- PB:
-
Posterior branch
- PD:
-
Parotid duct
- PG:
-
Parotid gland
- RMV:
-
Retromandibular vein
- SCM:
-
Sternocleidomastoid muscle
- SF:
-
Superficial fascia
- SG:
-
Submandibular gland
- SLA:
-
Superior labial artery
- ZM:
-
Zygomatic minor
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the School of Medicine, Bahcesehir University, for access to the human cadaver. No financial support was provided in any form to the authors of this manuscript.
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OE and BC conceived the project and contributed to the manuscript writing. OE and BC contributed to the data analysis. OE and BC contributed to final manuscript approval. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ogut, E., Barut, C. Trifurcation of the facial artery at the inferior border of the mandible: a case report. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 451–454 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02652-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02652-y