3/24/2021 Solar Plexus | Encyclopedia.

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solar plexus Plexus (from the Latin for ‘braid’) is the name used to

describe a network of nerves; a ‘spaghetti junction’ which many nerves
pass through and where their branches split off to merge with those of
others. A plexus such as this one, where most of the nerves belong to
the autonomic nervous system, also embeds relay stations —
the ganglia where sympathetic nerve fibres coming from the spinal
cord relay at synapses with the post-ganglionic nerves that then proceed
to their destination on smooth muscles or glands.

Solar is the more colourful adjective for the plexus, otherwise known
as coeliac (derived from the Greek for ‘belly’). Its widely-radiating
incoming and outgoing nerves, linking the two coeliac ganglia, are
fancifully likened to the sun's rays. It lies mainly on the front of the aorta,
where this main artery enters the abdomen by passing down through
the diaphragm— at the ‘pit of the stomach’, and behind the stomach
itself. The sympathetic nerves to the abdominal organs, glands, and
blood vessels relay here, or pass through in branches to other satellite
plexuses and relay there. Since these nerves originate from the lower
thoracic segments of the spinal cord, they reach the plexus by passing
down from the thoracic cavity. The adrenal glands are among the organs
innervated via the plexus, which therefore incorporates the nerve pathway
for switching on the release of adrenaline into the bloodstream from the
adrenal medulla. In addition to the sympathetic components, branches
from the vagus nerves also pass this way, to be distributed to the
abdominal organs. They carry parasympathetic nerve fibres descending
from the brain stem, which activate the muscle and glands of the gut, and
ascending fibres serving visceral sensation. Injections that block nerve
transmission in the plexus may be helpful in the treatment of intractable
abdominal pain, such as in cancer of the pancreas. A coeliac plexus
reflex is described, consisting of a fall in blood pressure when the upper
abdominal organs are handled during a surgical operation. A reflex as
well as a mechanical effect may also be involved in the sensation of
being ‘winded’ by a blow in this region.

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