Quick Facts
Location: Along the external surface of the mandible, anterior or superficial to the masseter muscle.
Drainage: Skin of the cheek and lower lip and buccinator nodes
Direction of Flow: Submandibular nodes > jugulodigastric nodes > internal jugular nodes > supraclavicular nodes > jugular trunk > thoracic duct (left) or right lymphatic duct.
Related parts of the anatomy
Description
The mandibular nodes are only present in 10% of the population and are not extensively reported in literature. When present, they receive afferents from the skin of the cheek, lower lip, and buccinator muscle, and send efferents to the jugulodigastric node and on into the deep lateral cervical nodes of the neck (Földi et al., 2012).
References
Földi, M., Földi, E., Strößenreuther, R. and Kubik, S. (2012) Földi's Textbook of Lymphology: for Physicians and Lymphedema Therapists. Elsevier Health Sciences.
