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Nerve of pterygoid canal

Nerve group in the skull

Summary

Nerve group in the skull

Field	Value
Name	Nerve of pterygoid canal
Latin	n. canalis pterygoidei
Image	Gray788.png
Caption	Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves. (Vidian nerve labeled at upper right.)
BranchFrom	Greater petrosal nerve, deep petrosal nerve
BranchTo	Pterygopalatine ganglion

The nerve of the pterygoid canal (Vidian nerve) is formed by the union of the (parasympathetic) greater petrosal nerve and (sympathetic) deep petrosal nerve within the cartilaginous substance filling the foramen lacerum. From the foramen lacerum, the nerve of the pterygoid canal passes through the pterygoid canal to reach the pterygopalatine fossa, ending at the pterygopalatine ganglion.

Structure

The nerve of the pterygoid canal forms from the junction of the greater petrosal nerve and the deep petrosal nerve within the foramen lacerum. This combined nerve exits the foramen lacerum and travels to the pterygopalatine fossa through the pterygoid canal in the sphenoid.

The nerve of the pterygoid canal contains axons of both sympathetic and parasympathetic axons, specifically;

preganglonic parasympathetic axons from the greater petrosal nerve, a branch of the facial nerve (cell bodies are located in the superior salivatory nucleus)
postganglionic sympathetic axons from the deep petrosal nerve, a branch of the internal carotid plexus (cell bodies are located in the superior cervical ganglion)

Function

The preganglionic parasympathetic axons synapse in the pterygopalatine ganglion, which contains the postganglionic neurons which provide secretomotor innervation to the lacrimal gland, as well as the nasal and palatine glands.

The postganglionic sympathetic axons do not synapse in the pterygopalatine ganglion, they travel on the branches of the maxillary nerve to provide sympathetic innervation to blood vessels.

Additional images

File:Gray779.png|Alveolar branches of superior maxillary nerve and pterygopalatine ganglion. File:Gray844.png|Diagram of the cervical sympathetic. File:Autonomic Innervation to the Lacrimal Gland (and other glands of the deep face).svg|Depicts nerve branches that are involved in the autonomic innervation of the lacrimal gland. The terminal parts of the pathway are variable between individuals and differ for the other glands of the deep face.

References

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

nerves-of-the-head-and-neck facial-nerve

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