The Journal of craniofacial surgery
-
A maxillary nerve block using external anatomic landmarks is a safe regional anesthesia for adults. However, the classic approach to the nerve may be difficult in infants. To use this block in infants, we describe the anatomical landmarks needed to reach the foramen rotundum area using the suprazygomatic route. ⋯ From the skin landmark, the direction of the trajectory was oriented 19.3 +/- 5.3 and 8.7 +/- 2.9 degrees forward. These distances and angles must be slightly adapted for infants younger than 6 months, although none of these parameters were correlated with age during the period studied. This anatomic study based on computed tomographic scan information may be useful for clinical application of the truncal maxillary nerve block in infants using the suprazygomatic route.