Pre-caruncular approach to the medial orbit and landmarks for anterior ethmoidal artery ligation: a cadaveric study

In epistaxis and skull base surgery, the anterior ethmoidal artery sometimes needs to be ligated. We describe a novel, quick and scar-free surgical technique to ligate this artery with salient landmarks allowing rapid identification.

Twenty medial orbital walls from 10 randomly selected fresh-frozen, non-formalinised cadaver heads were examined. Dissection was performed by a pre-caruncular external approach to expose the AEA in all cases.

The Horner's muscle and nasion, two salient landmarks, have been identified for use during the pre-caruncular approach.

The pre-caruncular approach is a novel combined open and endoscopic surgical approach to the anterior ethmoidal artery. It is a simple, quick and scar-free technique. The identification of the artery is easy when using the two anatomic landmarks we describe in our study, that is Horner's muscle and the nasion.