Surgical anatomy of fissures and foramina in the orbits of Thai adults.

BACKGROUND: The anatomy of orbital foramina appears to vary depending on the population studied Moreover; different data between sides and genders have been reported.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was done to provide the morphometric data of the orbitalforamina related to side and gender in Thai subjects.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred orbits from 50 adult dried skulls were used. Gender of each skull was identified and the distances from the constant landmarks to the foramina in the medial, superior; inferior and lateral walls were measured.

RESULTS: In the medial wall, the mean distances from the anterior lacrimal crest to the optic canal (OC), anterior, and posterior ethmoidalforamina were 42.2, 23.5, and 36. 0 mm for both sides and genders, respectively. The average distances from the supraorbital notch/foramen in the roof to the superior orbital fissure (SOF), OC, and lacrimal foramen were 44.7, 40.0, and 33.6 mm, respectively. In the inferior wall, the distances from the infraorbital rim to the OC, inferior orbital fissure (IOF), and the posterior edge of roof of the infraorbital canal were 46.2, 21.7, and 12.3 mm, respectively. The distances from the frontozygomatic suture to the OC, SOF, IOF and LF were 46.9, 34.5, 24.0, and 27.2 mm, respectively. When compared to those of the previous reports, several considerable differences that may be of clinical importance were observed. Moreover, some distances were significantly different between sides or genders.

CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that race, side, and gender should be concerned during the orbital surgery and the data are good references for Thai subjects.