Browse the corpus

The vagus nerve, or CN X, the tenth cranial nerve, is a nerve that serves numerous important functions. While the majority of the fascicles function in parasympathetic activity, the vagus nerve also contains somatic sensory, visceral sensory, and branchial motor fibers. In Latin, vagus means, "wandering, straying." The vagus nerve is thus named because it follows a complex course throughout the body to innervate several organs; fibers originate from the dorsal motor nucleus and nucleus ambiguus in the ventral medulla oblongata of the brainstem, with terminal branches reaching the splenic flexure of the colon. A critical division during the nerve's course from rostral to caudal occurs as it enters the abdominal cavity: it splits into an anterior trunk and a posterior trunk. The structural and functional properties of the anterior trunk, along with its relevant surgical and clinical considerations, will be examined in this article.[1][2][3]