13 - superior orbital fissure - structures passing through it

the superior orbital fissure is divided for convenience into 3 parts . the medial , the middle and the lateral parts . the structures that pass through these regions are :

1. medial part : inferior ophthalmic vein and sympathetic nerves from the plexus surrounding the internal carotid artery .
2. the middle part : superior and inferior divisions of the oculomotor nerve, the abducent nerve , nasociliary nerve ( branch of the ophthalmic nerve )
3. the lateral part : superior ophthalmic vein, meningeal branch of the lacrimal artery, anastomosing branch of the middle meningeal artery which anastomoses with the recurrent branch of the lacrimal artery, lacrimal nerve and frontal nerve which are the branches of the ophthalmic nerve and trochlear nerve.

n as usual the naughty medical students have created a mnemonic to remember these structures except the arteries . the mnemonic is as follows :

LAZY NAKED FRENCH TARTS SIT IN ANTICIPATION OF SEX .

LAZY – lacrimal nerve – branch of the ophthalmic nerve .

NAKED – nasociliary nerve – branch of the ophthalmic nerve.

FRENCH – frontal nerve – branch of the ophthalmic nerve .

TARTS – trochlear nerve

SIT – superior division of oculomotor nerve

IN – inferior division of oculomotor nerve

ANTICIPATION – abducent nerve

OF – ophthalmic veins – both superior and inferior .

SEX – sympathetic nerves from the plexus around the internal carotid artery.

The disadvantages of this mnemonic are : it does not tell u which nerve is located medially and which is located laterally . this mnemonic does not give u information about the arteries .