ABSTRACT
The temporal bone contains the organs of hearing and balance. The facial nerve, internal carotid artery, sigmoid sinus and jugular bulb passage through it or adjacent to it. These are all very important or vital structures and so a thorough knowledge of temporal bone anatomy is necessary for those who operate on or around it. Variants of the normal anatomy are not uncommon in the temporal bone and can take the surgeon by surprise even with seemingly good pre-operative scan data. This is particularly the case when chronic infection or tumours have destroyed much of the normal anatomy, particularly in regard to the path of the facial nerve within the Fallopian canal. In this chapter the surgical anatomy of the temporal bone, middle ear and mastoid are described together with those aspects that can present a hazard for the surgeon and his patient. The detailed anatomy of the inner ear is not included because of constraints on chapter length. References where this information can be obtained are listed at the end of this chapter.
