Submandibular ganglion
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| Nerve: Submandibular ganglion | |
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| Distribution of the maxillary and mandibular nerves, and the submaxillary ganglion. (Submandibular ganglion visible at bottom left, but not labeled.) | |
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| Parasympathetic connections of the submaxillary and superior cervical ganglia. (Submaxillary ganglion labeled at center right.) | |
| Latin | ganglion submandibulare |
| Gray's | subject #200 898 |
| Innervates | submandibular gland, sublingual gland |
| Dorlands / Elsevier | g_02/12385004 |
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The submandibular ganglion (or submaxillary ganglion in older texts) is part of the human autonomic nervous system. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck. (The others are the otic ganglion, pterygopalatine ganglion, and ciliary ganglion).
Function
The submandibular ganglion is responsible for innervation of two salivary glands: the submandibular gland and sublingual gland.
Location and relations
The submandibular ganglion is small and fusiform in shape. It is situated above the deep portion of the submandibular gland, on the hyoglossus muscle, near the posterior border of the mylohyoid muscle.
The ganglion 'hangs' by two nerve filaments from the lower border of the lingual nerve (itself a branch of the mandibular nerve, CN V3). It is suspended from the lingual nerve by two filaments, one anterior and one posterior. Through the posterior of these it receives a branch from the chorda tympani nerve which runs in the sheath of the lingual nerve.
Fibers
Like other parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck, the submandibular ganglion is the site of synapse for parasympathetic fibers and carries other types of nerve fiber that do not synapse in the ganglion. In summary, the fibers carried in the ganglion are:
- Sympathetic fibers from the internal carotid plexus, via the facial artery and its branches. These do not synapse in this ganglion.
- Preganglionic parasympathetic fibers from the superior salivatory nucleus of the medulla oblongata, via the chorda tympani and lingual nerve, which synapse at the origin of:
- Postganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the oral mucosa and the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands.
Additional images
 Mandibular division of trifacial nerve, seen from the middle line. |
 Diagram of efferent sympathetic nervous system. |
External links
- SUNY Figs 27:03-10
- Norman/Georgetown cranialnerves (V, VII)
- Anatomy at UMich head_autonomics_module/autonomics_09
- Submandibular+ganglion at eMedicine Dictionary
The cranial nerves: trigeminal nerve | |||||||||
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| ophthalmic (V1) | frontal: supratrochlear - supraorbital (lateral branch, medial branch)
nasociliary: long ciliary - infratrochlear - posterior ethmoidal - anterior ethmoidal (external nasal, internal nasal) - sensory root of ciliary ganglion (ciliary ganglion) lacrimal | ||||||||
| maxillary (V2) |
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| mandibular (V3) |
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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 .
