Lymph Vessels of the Skin of the Head

The lymph vessels of the skin of the head (Figure 13) mostly drain to the mandibular lymph nodes (Figure 13: 2, 2’, 2’’), and less frequently to the parotid lymph node (Figure 13: 1) and superficial cervical lymph nodes (Figure 13: 3). The lymph vessels of the skin of the lips and the outer nose, the cheek area, the rostral half of the lateral nasal region, and the bridge of the nose drain to the mandibular lymph nodes, whereas the lymph vessels of the skin of the caudal part of the dorsum of the nose, the lateral region of the nose, the eyelids, the forehead region, and the region of the zygomatic arch mostly drain to the parotid lymph node, and to a lesser extent to the mandibular lymph nodes. The lymph vessels of the skin of the intermandibular region drain to the mandibular lymph nodes, often crossing the median plane, the lymph vessels of the skin of the rostral crest of the head region drain to the parotid lymph node, the lymph vessels of the skin of the caudal crest of the head region drain to the superficial cervical lymph nodes, the lymph vessels of the skin of the masseter and parotid regions drain to the mandibular and superficial cervical lymph nodes, and the lymph vessels of the skin of the pinna drain mostly to the superficial cervical lymph nodes and to a lesser extent to the medial retropharyngeal and parotid lymph nodes (for details, see the lymph vessels of the pinna).