Lesser petrosal nerve

Lesser petrosal nerve
Mandibular division of trigeminal nerve, seen from the middle line. The small figure is an enlarged view of the otic ganglion. (Small petrosal labeled at center top and bottom right.)
Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves.
Details
From	tympanic plexus
To	otic ganglion
Innervates	parotid gland
Identifiers
Latin	nervus petrosus minor
TA	A14.2.01.149
FMA	53491
*Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy* [edit on Wikidata]

The lesser petrosal nerve (also known as the small superficial petrosal nerve) is the General visceral efferent (GVE) component of the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX), carrying parasympathetic fibers from the tympanic plexus to the parotid gland.

Structure

After arising in the tympanic plexus, the lesser petrosal nerve passes forward and then through the hiatus for lesser petrosal nerve on the anterior surface of the petrous part of the temporal bone into the middle cranial fossa. It travels across the floor of the middle cranial fossa,^[1] then exits the skull via foramen ovale to reach the infratemporal fossa. The fibres synapse in the otic ganglion, and post-ganglionic fibres then travel briefly with the auriculotemporal nerve (a branch of V3) before entering the body of the parotid gland.

The facial nerve gives off a branch at the geniculate ganglion for communication with the otic ganglion which joins the lesser petrosal nerve.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

↑ Kakizawa Y. et al., "The course of the lesser petrosal nerve on the middle cranial fossa." Neurosurgery. 2007 Sep; 61(3 Suppl): 15-23. PMID 17876229

Lesser petrosal nerve diagram
cranialnerves at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (IX)
lesson3 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (midearcavity) (#7)
MedEd at Loyola grossanatomy/h_n/cn/cn1/cn9.htm
Cranial Nerves at Yale 9-10

near origin	intermediate nerve geniculate

inside facial canal	greater petrosal pterygopalatine ganglion nerve to the stapedius chorda tympani lingual nerve submandibular ganglion

at stylomastoid foramen	posterior auricular suprahyoid digastric stylohyoid parotid plexus temporal zygomatic buccal mandibular cervical

Nuclei	Facial motor nucleus Solitary nucleus Superior salivary nucleus

before jugular fossa	ganglia superior inferior

after jugular fossa	tympanic tympanic plexus lesser petrosal otic ganglion stylopharyngeal branch pharyngeal branches tonsillar branches lingual branches carotid sinus

Nuclei	(Nucleus ambiguus Inferior salivatory nucleus Solitary nucleus

before jugular fossa	ganglia superior inferior

after jugular fossa	meningeal branch auricular branch

neck	pharyngeal branch pharyngeal plexus superior laryngeal external internal recurrent laryngeal (inferior) superior cervical cardiac

thorax	inferior cardiac pulmonary vagal trunks anterior posterior

abdomen	celiac renal hepatic anterior gastric posterior gastric

Nuclei	Nucleus ambiguus Dorsal nucleus of vagus nerve Solitary nucleus

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