Hepatic Branches of Anterior Vagal Trunk
Rami hepatici trunci vagalis anterioris
Read moreQuick Facts
Origin: Anterior vagal trunk.
Course: Runs from the anterior surface of the esophagus below the diaphragm to the common hepatic artery and hepatic plexus.
Branches: Pyloric branch and contributes to the hepatic plexus.
Supply: Mixed nerve. Visceral sensory: conveys sensation from the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, stomach, and pylorus. Parasympathetic: innervates smooth muscle and secretory cells in the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, stomach, and pylorus.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The hepatic branches of the anterior vagal trunk are branches of the anterior vagal trunk. They contain visceral afferent fibers that originate in organs of the upper GI tract, including the: liver, gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, stomach, and pylorus of the stomach. They also have parasympathetic efferent fibers originating in the posterior nucleus of the vagus nerve (dorsal motor nucleus or dorsal vagal nucleus) within the medulla oblongata (Ratcliffe, Farrar and Fox, 2011).
Course
The hepatic branches of the anterior vagal trunk run from the lower anterior esophageal region, inferior to the diaphragm, through the lesser omentum and to the common hepatic artery.
Branches
The hepatic branches of the anterior vagal trunk give rise to the pyloric branch and contribute to the hepatic plexus.
Supplied Structures
The hepatic branches of the anterior vagal trunk are mixed nerves that convey both visceral sensory fibers and parasympathetic efferent fibers. The visceral sensory fibers convey afferent information from the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, greater curvature of the stomach, and pylorus of the stomach.
The parasympathetic efferent fibers innervate the smooth muscle of the gallbladder, lesser curvature of the stomach, pylorus, and duodenum. They also target secretory cells in the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, and lesser curvature and pyloric regions of the stomach (Standring, 2016).
List of Clinical Correlates
—Gastric dysfunction resulting from loss of vagal input to the GI system
References
Ratcliffe, E. M., Farrar, N. R. and Fox, E. A. (2011) 'Development of the vagal innervation of the gut: steering the wandering nerve', Neurogastroenterology and motility : the official journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society, 23(10), pp. 898-911.
Standring, S. (2016) Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. Gray's Anatomy Series 41 edn.: Elsevier Limited.
