Gastric plexus

The gastric plexus is a parasympathetic nerve plexus (Latin "plexus") that covers the front and back of the stomach ( Greek γαστήρ "gaster"). Analogously to this, one speaks of a front or rear part of the gastric plexus ( anterior gastric plexus or posterior gastric plexus ). The gastric plexus promotes gastric motor skills and the secretion of its glands.

Another reason for a division into an anterior and a posterior part is the course of the nerve plexus : It arises from the anterior vagal trunk and the posterior vagal trunk , which in turn arise from the esophageal plexus . Thus the gastric plexus belongs to the parasympathetic vagus branches . The Truncus vagalis anterior runs on the front of the esophagus through the hiatus oesophageus (passage opening of the diaphragm for the esophagus) and finally enters the front of the stomach, where it forms the front part of the gastric plexus. The truncus vagalis posterior, on the other hand, runs on the back of the esophagus and thus comes to rest on the back of the stomach, where it forms the back of the gastric plexus.

In addition to the nerve branches to the stomach ( rami gastrici ), the plexus gastricus anterior also sends numerous nerve branches to the liver, which are referred to as rami hepatici , or in the singular as ramus hepaticus . The Rami pylorici, in turn, branch off from the Rami hepatici - nerve branches that innervate the gatekeeper and the beginning of the duodenum .

The posterior gastric plexus actually sends only a small part of its fibers to the back of the stomach ( rami gastrici ), while the greater part of the nerve branches runs to the celiac plexus . These nerve branches are called Rami celiaci (singular: Ramus celiacus ).

literature

• Friedrich Anderhuber, Franz Pera, Johannes Streicher (Hrsg.): Waldeyer - Anatomie des Menschen . Textbook and atlas in one volume. 19th edition. Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-022862-5 , p. 534 .