This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Sympathetic ganglia

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The sympathetic ganglia are the sites at which preganglionic sympathetic nerves synapse with the cell bodies of postganglionic sympathetic nerves. The synaptic neurotransmitter is acetylcholine.

Anatomically, the ganglia exist in two discrete groups:

  • paravertebral ganglia; chains of ganglia lying either side of the vertebral column from the skull base to the coccyx
  • prevertebral ganglia; more irregular, unpaired ganglia around the anterior surface of the aorta within the abdomen

The ganglia can be considered in terms of:

  • anatomical location
  • routes taken by preganglionic neurones through the ganglia

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.