Branches of the external carotid artery (mnemonic)
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Gaillard F, Zheng A, Yu Y, et al. Branches of the external carotid artery (mnemonic). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 07 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-22253
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22253
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Alex Zheng had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Alex Zheng's current disclosures
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16 contributors -
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Synonyms:
- Some American Ladies Found Our Pyramids Most Satisfactory (mnemonic)
- Some Anatomists Like Freaking Out Poor Medical Students (mnemonic)
- She Always Likes Friends Over Papa, Sister, and Mama (mnemonic)
- SALFOPSM
Mnemonics for the branches of the external carotid artery abound. A few colorful examples include:
Some American Ladies Found Our Pyramids Most Satisfactory
Some Anatomists Like Freaking Out Poor Medical Students
She Always Likes Friends Over Papa, Mama, and Sister
There are many many many other mnemonics, many of which are not suitable for inclusion on Radiopaedia.org on account of foul language, inappropriate imagery or reprehensible stereotypes.
Note: as the superficial temporal artery and maxillary artery are terminal branches of the external carotid artery, their order may be reversed.
Mnemonics
The branches can be remembered by pronouncing the first letters of each branch to form a word "SALFOPMS" which gives the arrangement from the first branch proximal to the common carotid artery bifurcation to one of the terminal branches (maxillary artery).
Above sequence may be altered and also be remembered as "FLOP MASS".
References
- 1. Neuroradiology: The Requisites. Robert I. Grossman and David M. Yousem. 2nd ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; 2003.
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