College of Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Basic Sciences, and Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, Kansas City University, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Aesthet Surg J. 2022 May 18;42(6):NP373-NP382. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjac029.
Major branching patterns of the facial nerve have been extensively studied because damage to branches of the nerve is associated with complications ranging from weakness to paralysis. However, communicating branches of the facial nerve have received far less attention despite being hypothesized as a means of motor recovery following facial nerve injury.
The aim of this study was to characterize the frequency of communicating branches of the facial nerve to provide clarity on their anatomy and clinical correlations.
Bilateral facial dissections were completed on cadaveric donors (n = 20) to characterize the frequency and location of communicating branches across terminal branches of the facial nerve. Statistical analyses were employed to analyze differences between the location of communications by side and whether the communicating branches were more likely to occur on the left or right side (P < 0.05).
Communicating branches were identified among all terminal branches of the facial nerve and their frequencies reported. The highest frequencies of communicating branches were identified between the buccal-to-marginal mandibular and zygomatic-to-buccal branches, at 67.5% (27 comm/40 hemifaces). The second highest frequency was identified between the temporal-to-zygomatic branches in 62.5% (25/40) of donors. The marginal mandibular-to-cervical branches had communicating branches at a frequency of 55% (22/40). Location or sidedness of communicating branches did not significantly differ.
Our characterization more accurately defines generalizable areas in which communicating branches are located. These locations of branches, described in relation to nearby landmarks, are fundamental for clinical and surgical settings to improve procedural awareness.
面神经的主要分支模式已被广泛研究，因为神经分支的损伤与从肌无力到瘫痪等并发症有关。然而，尽管面神经损伤后的运动恢复假说认为交通支是一种可能的机制，但面神经的交通支却受到的关注要少得多。
本研究的目的是描述面神经交通支的发生频率，以阐明其解剖学和临床相关性。
对 20 例尸体供体进行双侧面神经解剖，以描述面神经终末支交通支的发生频率和位置。采用统计学分析方法分析侧别之间交通支位置的差异，以及交通支更可能出现在左侧还是右侧（P < 0.05）。
在面神经的所有终末支及其报告的发生频率中均发现了交通支。交通支发生率最高的是颊支与下颌缘支之间，为 67.5%（40 个半侧面 27 个交通支）；其次是颞支与颧支之间，发生率为 62.5%（40 个半侧面 25 个交通支）；下颌缘支与颈支之间的交通支发生率为 55%（40 个半侧面 22 个交通支）。交通支的位置或侧别无显著差异。
我们对面神经交通支的描述更准确地定义了可广泛应用的交通支所在区域。这些分支在附近解剖标志上的位置对于临床和手术环境改善程序意识是至关重要的。
