Posterior Ramus of Fourth Cervical Nerve (Left)
Ramus posterior nervi cervicalis quarti
Read moreQuick Facts
Origin: Fourth cervical nerve.
Course: Winds posteriorly around the C4 articular pillar.
Branches: Medial and lateral branches.
Supply: Motor innervation to semispinalis capitis, multifidus, interspinales, longissimus colli, splenius colli, and iliocostalis colli muscles. Sensory innervation to the skin of the posterior neck.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The posterior ramus of fourth cervical nerve is one of two branches of the fourth cervical nerve, the other being the anterior ramus.
Course
The posterior ramus of the fourth cervical nerve runs backwards and winds around the articular pillar of C4 vertebra.
Branches
The posterior ramus of the fourth cervical nerve gives rise to medial and lateral branches.
Supplied Structures
The lateral branch of the posterior ramus provides somatic motor innervation to the longissimus colli, splenius colli, and iliocostalis colli muscles. Those which pass through the medial branch provide motor innervation to multifidus, semispinalis colli, semispinalis capitis, and trapezius, before becoming cutaneous.
The sensory afferent neurons, which provide innervation to the skin of the posterior neck transmit general sensory information regarding pain, touch, pressure, vibration, etc. via the medial branch of posterior ramus.
