The most important surgical landmark of the nose is the middle turbinate, or, as it should more properly be called, the inferior ethmoidal turbinate. It must be considered in every operation on the accessory sinuses of the nose that is performed through the nose, as it either comes into relation with these sinuses or blocks the way to them.
GROSS ANATOMY.
The middle turbinate is that part of the lateral mass of the ethmoid bone which projects from the external wall of the nasal cavity, continuous anteriorly with the lateral mass and separated from its posterior portion by a space known as the inferior ethmoidal fissure. Above the middle turbinate, the ethmoidal fissures, which run more or less parallel to the bone, form from one to three additional turbinates.Mihalkovics1 states that it is from 30 to 40 mm. in length, sometimes 45 mm., and from 15 to 16