The lateral wall and the floor of the orbit are separated posteriorly by the inferior orbital fissure which transmits the maxillary nerve and its zygomatic branch, and the ascending branches from the pterygopalatine ganglion. The infraorbital vessels are not found in the inferior orbital fissure, but rather in the infraorbital foramen.

It is formed by the sphenoid bone and maxilla.

[edit] Images

Left infratemporal fossa.

Horizontal section of nasal and orbital cavities.

Dissection showing origins of right ocular muscles, and nerves entering by the superior orbital fissure.

Inferior orbital fissure
The skull from the front. (Label for inferior orbital fissure is at center right.)
1 Foramen ethmoidale, 2 Canalis opticus, 3 Fissura orbitalis superior, 4 Fossa sacci lacrimalis, 5 Sulcus infraorbitalis, 6 Fissura orbitalis inferior, 7 Foramen infraorbitale
Latin	f. orbitalis inferior
Gray's	subject #46 189

[edit] See also

• Foramina of skull

[edit] External links

• lesson3 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (orbitforamina) (#3)
• Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 34256.000-1
• Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 34257.000-1

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.