Quick Facts
Origin: Twelfth thoracic nerve (T12).
Course: Anteriorly and inferiorly from the thoracic sympathetic chain, piercing the diaphragm and running down through the abdomen to the renal plexus.
Branches: No branches.
Supply: Sympathetic innervation to the vessels and viscera of the kidneys and adrenal glands.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The least splanchnic nerve emerges from the sympathetic trunk ganglia associated with the twelfth thoracic nerve level.
Course
The least splanchnic nerve runs anteriorly towards the anterolateral surface of the vertebral bodies, and inferiorly towards the abdomen. It pierces the diaphragm and runs through the abdomen to the renal plexus.
Branches
There are no branches of the least thoracic splanchnic nerve.
Supplied Structures & Function
The sympathetic fibers of the least splanchnic nerve synapse in the renal plexus. The postganglionic fibers from this plexus innervate the kidneys and adrenal glands.
Visceral sensory fibers from these tissues return to the central nervous system via the least splanchnic nerve.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Thoracic Splanchnic Nerves
The thoracic splanchnic nerves arise directly from the sympathetic chain, deriving from the medial branches of the lower seven thoracic ganglia.
