Pterygoid canal

The pterygoid canal (also vidian canal) is a passage in the sphenoid bone of the skull leading from just anterior to the foramen lacerum in the middle cranial fossa to the pterygopalatine fossa.^[1]

Pterygoid canal
Base of skull. Inferior surface. (Sphenoid is yellow.)
Sphenoid bone. Anterior and inferior surfaces. (Pterygoid c. labeled at center left.)
Details
Artery	Artery of the pterygoid canal
Nerve	Nerve of pterygoid canal
Identifiers
Latin	canalis pterygoideus
TA98	A02.1.05.053
TA2	639
FMA	54756
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

It transmits the nerve of pterygoid canal (Vidian nerve), the artery of the pterygoid canal (Vidian artery), and the vein of the pterygoid canal (Vidian vein).

Structure

The pterygoid canal runs through the medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone to the back wall of the pterygopalatine fossa.

Additional images

• 
  Medial wall of left orbit.

External links

• Anatomy figure: 22:4b-08 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• cranialnerves at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (VII)