Dorello's Canal for Laymen: A Lego-Like Presentation

Abstract

Objective: Dorello's canal was first described in 1859. Later, Dorello and Vail described Dorello's canal's anatomy. In the past, Dorello's canal was clinically important for understanding 6th nerve palsy, but nowadays it is mostly important for skull base surgery. Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) anatomy of this canal is very difficult; there is no simple explanation of it and its relationship with adjacent structures. We present a simple, Lego-like presentation of Dorello's canal, in a stepwise manner.