Separating the lateral wall of the orbit from the floor of the orbit is a longitudinal opening, the inferior orbital fissure (Fig. 8.88). Its borders are the greater wing of the sphenoid and the maxilla, palatine, and zygomatic bones. This long fissure allows communication between: the orbit and the pterygopalatine fossa posteriorly, the orbit and the infratemporal fossa in the middle, and the orbit and the temporal fossa posterolaterally.