Supratrochlear nerve

Supratrochlear nerve
Sensory areas of the head, showing the general distribution of the three divisions of the fifth nerve. (Supratrochlear nerve labeled at upper left.)
Nerves of the orbit. Seen from above. (Supratrochlear nerve visible near top.)
Details
From	Frontal nerve
Identifiers
Latin	nervus supratrochlearis
Dorlands /Elsevier	n_05/12566867
TA	A14.2.01.024
FMA	52642
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy []

In human cranial neuroanatomy, the supratrochlear nerve is a branch of the frontal nerve, which itself comes from the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal (or fifth) cranial nerve. It is smaller than the nearby supraorbital nerve. It passes above the pulley of the Superior oblique muscle, and gives off a descending filament that joins the infratrochlear branch of the nasociliary nerve.

The supratrochlear nerve then exits the orbit between the pulley of the superior oblique and the supraorbital foramen, curves up on to the forehead close to the bone, and ascends beneath the Corrugator supercilii and Frontalis muscles. It then divides into branches which pierce these muscles and supplies the following areas:

Supratrochlear means "above the trochlea". The term trochlea means "pulley" in Latin. Specifically, the trochlea referred to is a loop inside the orbit of the eye, through which the tendon of the superior oblique muscle passes.

Supratrochlear nerve

Extrinsic eye muscle. Nerves of orbita. Deep dissection.

Extrinsic eye muscle. Nerves of orbita. Deep dissection.

Extrinsic eye muscle. Nerves of orbita. Deep dissection.

Extrinsic eye muscle. Nerves of orbita. Deep dissection.

Extrinsic eye muscle. Nerves of orbita. Deep dissection.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)