Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Bratislava Medical Journal, cilt.126, sa.9, ss.2081-2087, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
The great auricular nerve (GAN) is the most frequently injured nerve during rhytidectomy and parotidectomy. Moreover, it has been used as a donor graft to repair certain nerves in head and neck regions for over a quarter of a century. The study focused on easily defining the anatomical trace of GAN via external occipital protuberance (EOP). The neck regions of 26 cadavers (15 males, 11 females) were dissected bilaterally. A digital caliper was utilized for distances. The number of branches and the number of branches on the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) of GAN were accounted. The mean perpendicular distances of the origin point of GAN behind the SCM to the vertical and transverse lines passing over the EOP were 72.79 ± 14.52 mm and 97.48 ± 13.65 mm, respectively. Similarly, the mean perpendicular distances of the point where GAN crossed the anterior border of the SCM to the vertical and transverse lines passing over EOP were 90.35 ± 17.73 mm and 68.75 ± 15.13 mm, respectively. The perpendicular distance of the point where GAN crossed the anterior border of SCM to the vertical line passing over EOP was statistically significant between genders (p < 0.05). The mean length on the SCM and the mean branching distance were 42.17 ± 10.83 mm and 23.53 ± 13.85 mm, respectively. Additionally, the number of branches and the number of branches on the SCM was a median of 2. The morphometric data we obtained may be useful in preventing GAN injury during rhytidectomies and parotidectomies and in easily estimating the location of the nerve during GAN harvesting.