Objectives: To describe the anatomical characteristics of the main body and the branches of the facial nerve. Subjects and method: A cross-sectional study wa carried out on 30 hemifaces that belong to formalin-treated Vietnamese male and female cadavers. | Journal of military pharmaco-medicine no7-2018 ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FACIAL NERVE TRUNK IN VIETNAMESE ADULT CADAVERS Le Quang Tuyen*; Hoang Van Luong**; Pham Dang Dieu* SUMMARY Objectives: To describe the anatomical characteristics of the main body and the branches of the facial nerve. Subjects and method: A cross-sectional study wa carried out on 30 hemifaces that belong to formalin-treated Vietnamese male and female cadavers. Results: 100% of the sample remained only one facial nerve trunk leaving the stylomastoid foramen was locatedat a depth mm on right side, on the left from the skin. In bifurcates at the posterior border of the ramus of the mandible and in trifurcation was found. The distance between the angle of the mandible and trifurcation of the facial nerve, mean distance was found to be mm in the present study in Vietnamese subjects, whereby were between 36 to 50 mm from the angle of the mandible. Conclusions: There is only one facial nerve trunk exit from the stylomastoid foramen, the trunk length mm, diameter mm, average number of division is . The angle formed by the superior and inferior division appears to be almost perpendicular 0 ( ), and mean superior division length is mm which is notably shorter than inferior division ( mm). * Keywords: Facial nerve; Angle of mandible; Main trunk. INTRODUCTION In medical literature, even though there are studies about the facial nerve anatomy on Caucasian and non-Caucasian race, specifically about its course through the parotid gland, its rami and its branching pattern to innervate its end organ, none of them provided precise and detailed description about its rami and its branches. Therefore, achieving basic understanding about the exact course of the facial nerve in the parotid gland and its rami is critical for every surgeon to prevent facial nerve injury in parotid gland-related surgeries. There are anatomic landmarks that help pinpoint the .
