Morphology and location of infraorbital and supraorbital retaining ligaments in adult head cadav

Background and Aim: The retaining ligaments of the face are anatomically important for understanding the anatomy of aging. In this study was tried to determine the morphology of the infraorbital and supraorbital retaining ligaments in adult facial cadavers and their location and distance from the determined landmarks. Material and Methods: Fifteen fresh and thirteen formaldehyde-fiksed cadavers were included in the study. The distances of the superior orbicular retaining ligament (SORL), inferior orbital retaining ligament (IORL), lateral thickening (LK), zygomatic ligament (ZR), and teartrough (TTh) ligament to the midsagittal line, orbital rim and zygomatic apex in 28 cadavers were measured with an electronic caliper. The obtained data were evaluated with the help of SPSS 26.0 program. Results: The mean distances between the SORL and TTh and the zygomatic peak between the right and left faces of the cadavers differed statistically (p≤0.05). The distance between the IOR and the midsagittal line point between the right and left faces of the cadavers is greater on the left face than on the right face. In fresh cadavers, the distance between the ZL and the orbital rim between the right and left faces was on the right face (right: 27.09 mm and left: 23.4 mm); The distance between the LK and the zygomatic peak is on the left face (right: 21.83 mm and left: 30.59 mm); The distance between TTh and the zygomatic peak on the right face (right: 54.11 mm and left: 16.55 mm) and the distance between the IOR and the midsagittal line point on the left face (right: 36.52 mm and left: 46.39 mm) ) is more (p≤0.05). In fiksed cadavers, the distance between the SORL and the zygomatic peak between the right and left faces is greater on the right face (48.07 mm) than on the left face (38.03 mm) (p≤0.05). Between fresh and fiksed cadavers on the left side, the distance between the LK and the orbital rim was found to be higher in fresh cadavers (Fresh: 6.32 mm and Fiksed: 4.41 mm) (p≤0.05). Between fresh and fiksed cadavers on the right side, the distance between ZL and zygomatic peak was found to be higher in fresh cadavers. It was found that the distance between IORL, LK, ZL and TTh and the zygomatic peak differed between fresh and fiksed cadavers on the left side (p≤0.05). Between fresh and fiksed cadavers on the right face, the distance between the IORL and the midsagittal line point was found to be greater in fiksed cadavers (Fresh: 36.11 mm and Fiksed: 51.63 mm) (p≤0.05). Conclusion: It is thought that this study has not been done before and will serve as a guide and source for similar studies to be conducted in the future; It is thought that more detailed data can be obtained by conducting these studies on more cadavers. Keywords: Superior orbicular retaining ligament, inferior orbital retaining ligament, lateral thickening, zygomatic ligament, teartroug