Communications Between the Trigeminal Nerve and the Facial Nerve in the Face: A Systematic Review

J Craniofac Surg. 2015 Jul;26(5):1643-6. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000001810.

Abstract

The aim of the article is to elucidate the communications between the trigeminal nerve and facial nerve in the face. In a PubMed search, 328 studies were found using the terms 'trigeminal nerve, facial nerve, and communication.' The abstracts were read and 39 full-text articles were reviewed. Among them, 11 articles were analyzed. In the studies using dissection, the maxillary branch (V2) had the highest frequency (95.0% ± 8.0%) of communication with the facial nerve, followed by the mandibular branch (V3) (76.7% ± 38.5%). The ophthalmic branch (V1) had the lowest frequency of communication (33.8% ± 19.5%). In a Sihler stain, all of the maxillary branches and mandibular branches had communications with the facial nerve and 85.7% (12/14 hemifaces) of the ophthalmic branches had communications. The frequency of communications between the trigeminal nerve and facial nerve were significantly higher (P = 0.00, t-test) in the studies using a Sihler stain (94.7% ± 1.1%) than the studies using dissection (76.9 ± 35.8). The reason for the significantly higher frequency of trigeminal-facial communication in the studies using a Sihler stain is because of the limitation of the Sihler stain itself. This technique cannot differentiate the motor nerves from sensory nerves at the periphery, and a crossover can be misinterpreted as communication near to nerve terminal.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Facial Nerve / anatomy & histology
  • Facial Nerve / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Mandibular Nerve / anatomy & histology
  • Mandibular Nerve / physiology
  • Maxillary Nerve / anatomy & histology
  • Maxillary Nerve / physiology
  • Motor Neurons / physiology
  • Neural Pathways / anatomy & histology
  • Neural Pathways / physiology
  • Ophthalmic Nerve / anatomy & histology
  • Ophthalmic Nerve / physiology
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / physiology
  • Trigeminal Nerve / anatomy & histology
  • Trigeminal Nerve / physiology*