Fallopian canal

Last revised by Joshua Yap on 25 Oct 2022

The fallopian canal or facial nerve canal refers to a bony canal through which the facial nerve traverses the petrous temporal bone, from the internal acoustic meatus to the stylomastoid foramen.

There are three segments of the canal, corresponding to the segments of the facial nerve they contain:

  1. labyrinthine

  2. tympanic

  3. mastoid

Two genua (anterior genu and posterior genu) are also present.

As an interesting point of anatomical trivia, it is the longest bony canal through which a nerve passes in the human body.

History and etymology

It is named after Gabriele Falloppio (also known by his Latin name Fallopius), an Italian anatomist (1523-1562) after whom the fallopian tube and fallopian ligament are also named 3.

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