THE SENTINEL VEIN - AN IMPORTANT REFERENCE POINT FOR SURGERY IN THE TEMPORAL REGION

An intimate knowledge of the anatomy of the face is essential to the a esthetic surgeon. It is this knowledge that ultimately improves result s and minimizes complications. The major morbidity associated with bro w lifts is trauma to the temporal branch of the facial nerve. The gene ral course of this nerve has been well documented, but exact details a re still lacking. This anatomic study was designed to further elucidat e its path. Dissections were performed on each side of 10 fresh cadave r heads. These dissections revealed a consistent relationship between the temporal branch of the facial nerve and the sentinel vein. The sen tinel vein is reliably located and preoperatively easily defines the ' 'zone of caution,'' enabling the surgeon to operate rapidly and with c onfidence until the zone is reached, at which time the dissection is s lower as the vein is approached. In the patient in whom the sentinel v ein is not easily visualized externally, it may be identified through fixed skeletal landmarks.