Suprazygomatic Maxillary Nerve Block in Cleft Palate Outcomes

The maxillary nerve, V2, is purely a sensory branch of the trigeminal nerve. V2 exits the skull through the foramen rotundum and courses through the pterygopalatine fossa, a small pyramid-shaped depression located posterior to the maxilla. As the maxillary nerve exits the pterygopalatine fossa, it divides into numerous branches that supply sensation to the posterior nasal cavity, palate, sinuses, and maxilla. It is within the pterygopalatine fossa that the maxillary nerve is targeted and anesthetized during the block. With the patient in the supine position after nasotracheal intubation, a needle is inserted perpendicularly between the upper border of the zygomatic arch and posterior orbital rim until it reaches the greater wing of the sphenoid, where the needle is then retracted by a few millimeters and redirected toward the nasolabial fold until it hits the pterygopalatine fossa.

Local anesthetic infiltration of the palate during cleft palate repair is universally practiced. The benefits of local anesthetic infiltration are twofold: to provide anesthesia to the terminal branches of the nasopalatine and greater palatine nerves that are in the immediate area of the injection sites and to achieve hemostasis during closure when the medication is mixed with epinephrine. To administer local anesthetic infiltration of the palate, a 25 gauge needle is inserted next to the incision into the soft tissue. The tissue is first aspirated to determine safety of injection at that site. The medication is then injected parallel to the incision on both sides.