External laryngeal nerve

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The external laryngeal nerve is the smaller, external branch (ramus externus) of the superior laryngeal nerve. It descends on the larynx, beneath the sternothyroid muscle, to supply the cricothyroid muscle.

It gives branches to the pharyngeal plexus and the superior portion of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, and communicates with the superior cardiac nerve behind the common carotid artery.

The external branch is susceptible to damage during thyroidectomy, as it lies immediately deep to the superior thyroid artery.

Cranial nerves

I-IV: olfactory - optic - oculomotor - trochlear

V: trigeminal: semilunar ganglion
V1: ophthalmic: lacrimal - frontal (supratrochlear, supraorbital) - nasociliary (long root of ciliary, long ciliary, infratrochlear, ethmoidal) - ciliary ganglion - short ciliary
V2: maxillary: middle meningeal - in the pterygopalatine fossa (zygomatic, zygomaticotemporal, zygomaticofacial, sphenopalatine, posterior superior alveolar)
in the infraorbital canal (middle superior alveolar, anterior superior alveolar)
on the face (inferior palpebral, external nasal, superior labial, infraorbital plexus) - pterygopalatine ganglion (deep petrosal, nerve of pterygoid canal)
branches of distribution (palatine, nasopalatine, pharyngeal)
V3: mandibular: nervus spinosus - internal pterygoid - anterior (masseteric, deep temporal, buccinator, external pterygoid)
posterior (auriculotemporal, lingual, inferior alveolar, mylohyoid, mental) - otic ganglion - submandibular ganglion

VI: abducent

VII: facial: nervus intermedius - geniculate - inside facial canal (great petrosal, nerve to the stapedius, chorda tympani)
at exit from stylomastoid foramen (posterior auricular, digastric - stylohyoid)
on face (temporal, zygomatic, buccal, mandibular, cervical)

VIII: vestibulocochlear: cochlear (striae medullares, lateral lemniscus) - vestibular

IX: glossopharyngeal: fasciculus solitarius - nucleus ambiguus - sympathetic efferent fibers - ganglia (superior, petrous) - tympanic

X: vagus: ganglia (jugular, nodose) - Alderman's nerve - in the neck (pharyngeal branch, superior laryngeal, recurrent laryngeal) - in the thorax (pulmonary branches, esophageal plexus) - in the abdomen (gastric plexuses, celiac plexus, gastric plexus)

XI: accessory XII: hypoglossal
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