International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | June 2017 | Vol 5 | Issue 6 Page 2449 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Goyal N et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2017 Jun;5(6):2449-2453 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Clinical significance of accessory foramina in adult human mandible Nisha Goyal 1 *, Maneesha Sharma 2 , Rasalika Miglani 3 , Anil Garg 4 , P. K. Gupta 2 INTRODUCTION The mandible is the strongest and largest bone of facial skeleton. It consists of one horseshoe-shaped body and a pair of rami. On external surface of body in the midline there is a faint ridge i.e. symphysis menti indicating the line of fusion of two halves of mandible during development. 1 The mandibular foramen is present on the medial surface of ramus of mandible a little above the centre. It transmits inferior neurovascular bundle i.e. inferior alveolar branch of mandibular nerve and vessels into the mandibular canal which extends into the body of mandible up to the mental foramen to supply mandibular teeth. 2 It is important surgical landmark for inferior nerve blocks. The inferior nerve is commonly injured during dental surgeries. The mental foramen is present on external surface of body of mandible, below the second molar tooth. Branches of inferior alveolar nerve and vessels pass through this foramen. 3 The openings present in mandible other than alveolar sockets, mandibular and mental foramen are known as 1 Department of Anatomy, BPS Government Medical College for Women, Sonipat, Haryana, India 2 Department of Anatomy, Gian Sagar Medical College, Patiala, Punjab, India 3 Department of Anatomy, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, India 4 Department of Forensic Medicine, BPS Government Medical College for Women, Sonipat, Haryana, India Received: 27 February 2017 Revised: 21 April 2017 Accepted: 25 April 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Nisha Goyal, E-mail: anilnishagarg@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: The mandible is the strongest and largest bone of facial skeleton. It consists of one horseshoe-shaped body and a pair of rami. On external surface of body in the midline there is a faint ridge i.e. symphysis menti indicating the line of fusion of two halves of mandible during development. The aim of this study is to describe the position and incidence of accessory foramina on the inner surface of the body and rami of both sides of mandible to provide simple important reliable surgical landmarks. Methods: The present study was conducted on 100 dried adult human mandibles. Bones which had deformities, asymmetries, external pathological changes and fractures were excluded from the present study. Results: In 97% cases at least one accessory foramen was observed on inner surface of mandible. The accessory lingual foramen was found to be constant finding with incidence of 81%. Frequency of infraspinous or sublingual foramen was 58%, of lateral foramen was 50% and that of accessory mandibular foramen was 39%. Conclusions: The anatomical knowledge about the common location and incidence of accessory foramina in mandible are important for surgeons and anaesthetists performing surgeries in the area around mandible. These accessory foramina transmit neurovascular bundles which provide accessory innervations to the roots of teeth. Thus proper knowledge of accessory foramina are important in relation to achieving complete inferior alveolar nerve block and for avoiding injury to neurovascular bundle passing through them. Keywords: Accessory foramina, Foramen, Mandible, Neurovascular bundle DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20172427