Posterior Belly of Digastric Muscle is not Always an Intern's Friend, During Neck Dissection.

Abstract

Among the various anatomical landmarks during neck dissection, digastric muscle is one of the most important. It is well known that all important blood vessels in neck lies deep to digastric. Thus, it acts as a safety landmark during neck dissection. In this article we describe a variation in vascular anatomy with relation to posterior belly of digastric that has not been reported so far during live surgery. Surgeon performing neck dissection should have a detailed knowledge of anatomy and infrequent anatomical variation. The knowledge of current anatomical variation will avoid torrential bleed during neck dissection and preserve the artery for vascular related procedures.