Inferior orbital fissure

The inferior orbital fissure is an approximately 30 mm long and up to 5 mm wide bony gap between the large wing of the sphenoid bone and the floor of the eye socket in the human skull . It opens the eye socket towards the palatal fossa ( fossa pterygopalatina ) and the temporal fossa . The following structures run through the inferior orbital fissure:

• Infraorbital nerve (branch of the maxillary nerve )
• Zygomatic nerve (branch of the maxillary nerve )
• Infraorbital artery (branch of the maxillary artery )
• parasympathetic fibers from the pterygopalatine ganglion
• Inferior ophthalmic vein

The inferior orbital fissure is covered like a mesh by the smooth muscles of the orbitalis muscle . This can compress the orbital contents during contraction or give way if it is pushed backwards during contraction of the eyelid and eye muscles and the intraorbital pressure increases.

See also

• Superior orbital fissure

literature

• Herbert Kaufmann: Strabismus. With the collaboration of W. de Decker et al. Enke, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-432-95391-7 .