Anatomy
Summary
The recurrent laryngeal nerve is a bilateral nerve in the neck, important for vocal cord function. It is a branch of the vagus nerve (cranial nerve X), and it initially travels downwards as part of the vagus nerve, before splitting and looping upwards to return to the larynx. The looping path of the recurrent laryngeal nerve differs on the right and left. On the right, the nerve loops around the right subclavian artery before ascending, whereas, on the left, it travels further down, looping around the aortic arch, posterior to the ligamentum arteriosum, before heading up to the larynx.
The recurrent laryngeal nerve innervates all the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, except the cricothyroid. This means the recurrent laryngeal nerve innervates muscles that control the vocal cords. The nerve also transmits sensory information from the area of the larynx below the vocal cords and the trachea, and it supplies secretory innervation to this region as well.
Lesson Outline
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FAQs
The recurrent laryngeal nerve is a branch of the vagus nerve, which is also known as cranial nerve X. It descends as part of the vagus nerve, then splits off and travels up towards the larynx, taking different paths on the left and right.
After initially descending with the vagus nerve, the recurrent laryngeal nerve splits off and ascends to innervate the larynx. The right recurrent laryngeal nerve loops around the right subclavian artery before ascending. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve descends further, looping around the aortic arch, posterior to the ligamentum arteriosum, before ascending to the larynx.
The recurrent laryngeal nerve provides motor innervation to muscles of the vocal cords, facilitating vocal cord function and speech.
The recurrent laryngeal nerve innervates the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, except the cricothyroid muscle. The cricothyroid muscle receives its innervation from the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.
