Applied Anatomy in Plastic Surgery
Navigate the fascial planes, neurovascular danger zones, and perforator territories essential for reconstructive and aesthetic procedures. Master structural landmarks from the SMAS to the hand compartments with surgical precision.
Like Duolingo, but for Applied Anatomy in Plastic Surgery. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
24 levels across 4 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Facial Planes and Danger Corridors, Aesthetic Frameworks of the Face, Trunk and Breast Topography, and Microvascular Territories and Extremity Compartments.
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Key ideas in Applied Anatomy in Plastic Surgery
- The frontal branch travels within or directly beneath the innominate/sub-SMAS fascia as it crosses the superficial zygomatic arch along Pitanguy's line
- Dissection directly over the arch must either remain strictly superficial in subcutaneous tissue or dive deep to the deep layer of deep temporal fascia/subperiosteum to sandwich the nerve safely in the elevated flap
- In up to 20% of patients, the marginal mandibular nerve loops up to 1-2 cm below the inferior border of the mandible anterior to the facial vessels
- The marginal mandibular branch crosses superficial (lateral) to the facial artery and vein at the antegonial notch, making traction or cautery around these vessels particularly hazardous
- McKinney's point is reliably located 6.5 cm inferior to the external auditory canal on a line drawn toward the clavicle, bisecting the mid-belly of the sternocleidomastoid muscle
- At McKinney's point, the nerve pierces the deep cervical fascia to run superficial, making it the most commonly injured nerve in rhytidectomy if subcutaneous dissection is taken too deep
- Buccal and zygomatic branches emerge deep to the masseteric fascia before arborizing into the facial musculature near the anterior border of the masseter
- The sub-SMAS plane over the mid-body of the masseter is an avascular gliding space (premasseter space) that is safe for rapid dissection until reaching the anterior border
- The supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental neurovascular bundles emerge along a shared vertical line intersecting the pupil (mid-pupillary or medial-pupillary axis)
- The infraorbital foramen consistently sits 7–10 mm inferior to the infraorbital margin, requiring subperiosteal elevation to halt superior to this mark unless visualising and protecting the bundle
- The mental foramen is situated vertically below the second premolar / vertical pupillary line, halfway down the mandibular height
- The superficial musculoaponeurotic system is an anatomically continuous fibroelastic sheet extending from the galea and superficial temporal fascia above down into the platysma below
- Traction applied to the midcheek SMAS directly transfers vector tension across fascial boundaries into the cervical platysma and temporal fascia
- Dissection in the temporal region transitions deep to the superficial temporal fascia along the deep temporal fascia to protect the frontal branch of the facial nerve
- True retaining ligaments (such as the zygomatic and mandibular retaining ligaments) insert directly into cortical bone and traverse the SMAS to anchor into the dermis
- False retaining ligaments (including masseteric cutaneous and parotid cutaneous ligaments) arise as condensations of deep muscular or glandular fascia rather than bone
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You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
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Tomo gives Applied Anatomy in Plastic Surgery the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When elevating across the zygomatic arch, how should you adjust your plane of dissection to protect the frontal branch?
Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.
Where Applied Anatomy in Plastic Surgery takes you
- 1
Facial Planes and Danger Corridors
- Facial Danger Zones and Nerve Trajectories
- The SMAS and Retaining Ligament Architecture
- 2
Aesthetic Frameworks of the Face
- Functional Rhinoplasty Framework and Keystone Anatomy
- Periorbital Lamellae and Eyelid Dynamics
- 3
Trunk and Breast Topography
- Breast Parenchyma, NAC Perfusion, and Dual-Plane Mechanics
- Abdominal Wall Architecture and Flap Vascularity
- 4
Microvascular Territories and Extremity Compartments
- Angiosome Concepts and Perforasome Dynamics
- Hand Compartments, Pulley Systems, and Neurovascular Safe Corridors
4 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
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