Anatomic variations of the infraorbital foramen

The aims of this study were to locate the infraorbital foramen and to deter mine the frequency and location of any accessory foramen, which may be trou blesome during anesthetization of this region. In 45 cadavers, the infraorb ital foramen was dissected according to classic principles for location. Th e line between the angulus oculi medialis and the angulus oculi lateralis w as divided into three equal pieces, and a second line was drawn downward, p erpendicular to the point uniting the internal and medial thirds. The posit ion of the infraorbital foramen was determined in relation to that line and the infraorbital margin. For the right and left sides, the infraorbital fo ramen was found to be on that line in 75.6% and 68.9% of the specimens, res pectively. The infraorbital foramen was 10.9 mm and 8.3 mm under the infrao rbital margin in men and women, respectively. Regarding accessory foramen, 119 crania and 229 maxilla were observed (a total of 467 infraorbital foram en), and it was found that single accessory foramen were present in 11.5% o f specimens and double accessory foramen were present in 1.28% of specimens . In 79.6% of specimens with single accessory foramen, the accessory forame n was superior and medial to the main opening. These results are helpful in decreasing anesthetic complications.