ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended to cover the anatomical knowledge of head and neck that helps trainee anesthetists who are revising for the Primary and Final FRCA exams. The topics of importance to anesthetists are presented under 'structures', 'circulation' and 'nervous system'. The chapter also includes a wide range of questions of clinical relevance that are asked in the exam. The internal jugular vein is the main conduit of venous drainage of the head and neck and starts at the base of skull as the sigmoid sinus exits through the jugular foramen. The internal jugular vein receives the pharyngeal, facial, lingual and thyroid branches in the upper part of the neck and terminates by combining with the subclavian vein to form the brachiocephalic vein. The front and side of the neck is divided by the sternocleidomastoid muscle into anterior and posterior triangles. These are further divided into other triangles by the muscles present in this area.
