Supraorbital nerve

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Nerve: Supraorbital nerve
Nerves of the orbit. Seen from above. (Supraorbital nerve labeled at upper right.)
The tarsi and their ligaments. Right eye; front view. (Supraorbital nerve labeled at upper right.)
Latin	nervus supraorbitalis
Gray's	subject #200 888
Innervates	frontal sinus
From	ophthalmic division, frontal nerve
To
MeSH	[1]

The supraorbital nerve is a terminal branch of the frontal nerve.

It passes through the supraorbital foramen, and gives off, in this situation, palpebral filaments to the upper eyelid.

It then ascends upon the forehead, and ends in two branches, a medial and a lateral, which supply the integument of the scalp, reaching nearly as far back as the lambdoidal suture; they are at first situated beneath the Frontalis:

• the medial branch perforates the muscle.
• the lateral branch perforates the galea aponeurotica.

Both branches supply small twigs to the pericranium.

See also

• Supra-orbital artery
• Supraorbital vein

Additional images

Sensory areas of the head, showing the general distribution of the three divisions of the fifth nerve.

The nerves of the scalp, face, and side of neck.

Outline of side of face, showing chief surface markings.

External link

• Knize D (1995). A study of the supraorbital nerve.. Plast Reconstr Surg 96 (3): 564-9. PMID 7638280.
• MedEd at Loyola GrossAnatomy/h_n/cn/cn1/cnb1.htm
• Norman/Georgetown lesson3 (orbit2)
• Norman/Georgetown cranialnerves (V)

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.

Nerves of head and neck: the cranial nerves

I-IV: olfactory - optic - oculomotor - trochlear

V: trigeminal: trigeminal ganglion
V1: ophthalmic: lacrimal - frontal (supratrochlear, supraorbital) - nasociliary (long root of ciliary, long ciliary, infratrochlear, posterior ethmoidal, anterior ethmoidal) - ciliary ganglion (short ciliary)
V2: maxillary: middle meningeal - in the pterygopalatine fossa (zygomatic, zygomaticotemporal, zygomaticofacial, sphenopalatine, posterior superior alveolar)
in the infraorbital canal/infraorbital nerve (middle superior alveolar, anterior superior alveolar)
on the face (inferior palpebral, external nasal, superior labial, infraorbital plexus) - pterygopalatine ganglion (deep petrosal, nerve of pterygoid canal)
branches of distribution (palatine, nasopalatine, pharyngeal)
V3: mandibular: nervus spinosus - medial pterygoid - anterior (masseteric, deep temporal, buccal, lateral pterygoid)
posterior (auriculotemporal, lingual, inferior alveolar, mylohyoid, mental) - otic ganglion - submandibular ganglion

VI: abducens

VII: facial: nervus intermedius - geniculate - inside facial canal (greater petrosal, nerve to the stapedius, chorda tympani)
at exit from stylomastoid foramen (posterior auricular, digastric - stylohyoid)
on face (temporal, zygomatic, buccal, mandibular, cervical)

VIII: vestibulocochlear: cochlear (striae medullares, lateral lemniscus) - vestibular

IX: glossopharyngeal: fasciculus solitarius - nucleus ambiguus - ganglia (superior, petrous) - tympanic - carotid sinus

X: vagus: ganglia (jugular, nodose) - Alderman's nerve - in the neck (pharyngeal branch, superior laryngeal ext and int, recurrent laryngeal)
in the thorax (pulmonary branches, esophageal plexus) - in the abdomen (gastric plexuses, celiac plexus, gastric plexus)

XI: accessory XII: hypoglossal