Introduction
The human nose is a structure used primarily for inhalation and exhalation. The nose is a midline structure — cartilage from both sides of the face form the framework of the nose. Parts of the maxilla bones and palatine bone create the bony structure of the base of the nasal canal. The vomer, ethmoid, and nasal bone make up the roof and walls of the nose and the bony framework. The external appearance of the nose is formed predominately from cartilage.
Since the nose lays in the middle of the face, it has an extensive blood supply. The blood that perfuses the nose is mainly from branches of the facial artery. The branches of the facial artery and the superior labial artery perfuse the nose via the septal branches, the angular artery, the external nasal artery, the dorsal nasal artery, and the lateral nasal artery. The nose also receives blood from arterial anastomoses adjacent to the nose. The lateral nasal artery predominately perfuses the structures that make the external appearance of the nose.