Lesser occipital nerve
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| Nerve: Lesser occipital nerve | |
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| Side of neck, showing chief surface markings. (Lesser occip. nerve labeled at center right.) | |
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| The nerves of the scalp, face, and side of neck. (Smaller occipital visible below and to the left of the ear.) | |
| Latin | nervus occipitalis minor |
| Gray's | subject #210 926 |
| Dorlands / Elsevier | n_05/12566330 |
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The lesser occipital nerve or small occipital nerve is a spinal nerve arising between the first and second cervical vertebrae, along with the greater occipital nerve. It innervates the scalp in the lateral area of the head behind the ear.
It arises from the lateral branch of the ventral ramus of the second cervical nerve, sometimes also from the third; it curves around and ascends along the posterior border of the Sternocleidomastoideus.
Near the cranium it perforates the deep fascia, and is continued upward along the side of the head behind the auricula, supplying the skin and communicating with the greater occipital, the great auricular, and the posterior auricular branch of the facial.
The smaller occipital varies in size, and is sometimes duplicated.
It gives off an auricular branch, which supplies the skin of the upper and back part of the auricula, communicating with the mastoid branch of the great auricular.
This branch is occasionally derived from the greater occipital nerve.
Disorder in this nerve causes occipital neuralgia.
Additional images
 Dermatome distribution of the trigeminal nerve |
External links
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
Nerves of head and neck: the cervical plexus (C1-C4) | |
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| superficial | C2-C3: Lesser occipital • Greater auricular • Transverse cervical C3-C4: Supraclavicular |
| deep | C1-C3: Ansa cervicalis (superior root, inferior root) C3-C5: Phrenic |
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
