PRENATAL MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SUPRAORBITAL, INFRAORBITAL AND MENTAL FORAMINA IN HUMAN FOETUSES AND THEIR CLINICAL CORRELATIONS TO ANAESTHESIA AND SURGICAL PROCEDURE

Modern surgical procedures, anesthesia, acupuncture and other invasive procedures on the face require a more precise understanding of the anatomy of important landmarks to prevent subsequent neurovascular complications in the frontal region, upper jaw and lower jaw. Studies on bilateral locational relationship of SOF, IOF and mental foramen in foetal skull are still lacking, so aim of our study was 1) to examine the various morphometric variations (the location and shape) of SOF, IOF and mental foramina of the facial skeleton in human foetuses at different age of gestation 2) to establish whether or not, the location of these foramina get changed as the foetus matures and 3) to establish the pattern of growth of aforesaid foramina. For these 40 formalin-fixed foetuses between 17 and 32 weeks of gestation were studied for SOF, IOF and mental foramina. Foetuses were divided into two groups according to age. It was interesting to note that supra-orbital and mental foramina were placed in the same sagittal plane on both sides of the midline. Infra-orbital foramen was located lateral to sagittal plane for supra-orbital and mental foramina. The shape of SOF was recorded as a notch or rarely a foramen, whereas the shape of IOF and mental foramen were determined as a circular and an oval opening respectively.