[Blood supply of the lips]

An important study of lips arterial supply was enabled using multiple sources of information: anatomical dissection, cadaver and "in vivo" arteriography and phlebography. Literature was a great help, especially a recent analysis of lips microvascularisation done by H. Sick. The classical figure of labial circular artery was found out to be quite seldom, whereas an important number of anatomical variations where shown. Also there was a total independence between inferior and superior lip venous drainage, for embryological reasons. Finally lymph drainage was studied by anatomical dissection with the use of Gerota mass and the G. Hidden's work. It appeared that cutaneous and mucosal drainage were separate, since the nodes were different. All these information have been useful and confirmed during more than a thousand surgical procedures performed in our maxillo-facial surgery unit of Besançon medical school.