BACKGROUND: The facial nerve is the seventh cranial nerve. It is a mixed nerve that supplies motor and sensory innervation. Extracranially the facial nerve comes out from the facial canal in the cranium through the stylomastoid foramen. Facial paralysis is a common complication of parotidectomy because of injury to the facial nerve, therefore an understanding of its division and branching pattern in the parotid gland is essential to carry out this surgery effectively.

AIM: To investigate the variation in the extracranial division of the facial nerve trunk in embalmed cadavers and to investigate the most frequent pattern of division.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 25 cadavers sourced from three gross laboratories including those of University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State University, and PAMO University of Medical Sciences. The dissection patternused were both retrograde and antegrade dissection.

RESULTS: In 6 cadavers (24%) the facial nerve divided before entering the parotid gland while in 19 cadavers (76%) divided within the parotid gland. The trunks in 23 cadavers (92%) bifurcated and in 2(8%) continued as a single trunks before dividing into 5 terminal branches.

CONCLUSION: In this study, the most frequent pattern of division is bifurcation and usually within the parotid gland.