English

Abstract

BACKGROUND External carotid arteries account for a major share of arterial supply of head and neck regions. As variations are frequently observed in the branching pattern of external carotid artery, surgeons, radiologists and anaesthetists often encounter difficulties in various procedures of head and neck. The purpose of this study is to describe the variations in the branching pattern of external carotid artery as observed in South Indian population which definitely reduces its iatrogenic injuries associated with surgical and radiological procedures of head and neck. METHODS This is cross-sectional descriptive study. Bilateral neck dissection was done on twenty-two formalin fixed cadavers to study the branching pattern of external carotid artery during a period of two years in the Department of Anatomy in Government Medical College, Alappuzha. Common carotid, external carotid and internal carotid arteries were dissected. All the branches of external carotid artery were traced and the variations were noted. The distance between carotid bifurcation and point of origin of individual branches of external carotid were measured and statistically analyzed. RESULTS In the present study along with normal branching pattern of external carotid artery, variations like origin of superior thyroid artery from common carotid artery and also from carotid bifurcation were seen. A common linguofacial trunk and direct origin of superior laryngeal artery from external carotid artery were also observed. CONCLUSIONS Prior knowledge of the variations will be helpful to surgeons and anaesthetists while dealing with these vessels during procedures of head and neck regions. KEYWORDS External Carotid Artery, Carotid Bifurcation, Superior Thyroid Artery, Linguofacial Trunk