Lumbar sympathetic ganglion : with brief description of medial and lateral branches

Lumbar sympathetic ganglion :

Numbar:

The lumbar part of each sympathetic trunk usually  contains four interconnected ganglia.

Relation :

They lying on the anterolateral aspects of body of the lumbar vertebra along the medial margin of the psoas major

Superiorly , it is continuous with thoracic sympathetic ganglion posterior to the medial arcuate ligament 

Inferiorly it passes posterior to the common iliac vessels  and continuous with sacral sympathetic ganglion

•       On the right side it is situated just posterior to the inferior vena cava

•       On the left posterior to the lateral aortic lymph nodes 

Branches of lumbar sympathetic ganglion

Two branches : lateral and medial branches

1.       Lateral branches :  1^st and 2^nd (occasionally 3) lumbar sympathetic ganglia are connected by ventral ramus of lumbar spinal nerves by  grey & white rami communicans . 

         3^rd and 4^th lumbar ganglia are connected by ventral ramus of lumbar spinal nerve only by grey ramus communicans 

2.       Medial branches : Four lumbar splanchnic nerves pass as medial branches from the ganglia 

Lumbar splanchnic nerves

Lumbar splanchnic nerves  conveys two types of fibres

•       General visceral efferent fiber : Lumbar splanchnic nerve content sympathetic efferent fiber , It conveys pre-ganglionic sympathetic fiber .It innervates smooth muscle cells and glands

·         General visceral afferent fiber : Collect sensory information from the visceral

Collateral ganglion related with lumbar splanchnic nerves

  Preganglionic sympathetic fibres of Lumbar splanchnic nerves  are synapse with postganglionic neuron present within the inferior mesenteric ganglion .

General visceral afferent fibres of lumbar splanchnic nerves are passes through the inferior mesenteric ganglion

Autonomic plexuses related with lumbar splanchnic nerves

  1^st lumbar splanchnic nerve give fibers to the :

•       coeliac , renal , inter-mesenteric  and inferior mesenteric plexuses

2^nd  lumbar splanchnic nerve give fibers to the

•       Inferior mesenteric plexus

3^rd   lumbar splanchnic nerve give fibers to the

•       Inferior mesenteric plexus

•       Superior hypogastric plexus

4^th   lumbar splanchnic nerve give fibers to the

•       inferior mesenteric plexuses

•       Superior hypogastric plexus

 Lumbar sympathetic system innervates  :

Innervate pelvic viscera (ex: Bladder neck, Vas deferens,Prostate)  and vasculature.  

Clinical anatomy :

•       Damage to lumbar splanchnic nerves  during aortoiliac surgery can result in sexual dysfunction.