Parasympathetic Pelvic Nerves Research Articles

Functional relationship of longitudinal and circular layers of the muscularis externa of the rabbit large intestine.

1. The functional relationship of the longitudinal and circular layers of the muscularis externa of the rabbit large intestine has been studied in a flat preparation.2. Evidence is presented that mechanical activity can be recorded independently and simultaneously from the two muscle layers of the flat preparation. Such evidence accrues mainly from results obtained from the flat preparation in response to various drugs.3. During spontaneous rhythmic contractions and during the response to pelvic (parasympathetic) nerve stimulation, both layers show similar activity, never opposite or reciprocal activity.4. In this flat preparation, the mechanism controlling the level of sustained tension (i.e. ;tone') may be dissociable, within limit, from the mechanism controlling rhythmic contractions.

An electrophysiological study of the innervation of the smooth muscle of the colon.

1. Micro-electrodes were used to examine transmission from intrinsic and extrinsic nerves to single cells of the longitudinal and circular muscle coats of colons from guinea-pigs and rabbits.2. When intrinsic nerves were stimulated, inhibitory junction potentials (IJPs) were observed in over 90% of the cells of the longitudinal coat and nearly all of the cells of the circular coat. The characteristics of IJPs in the guinea-pig and rabbit were similar. Facilitation of two or three successive IJP's was sometimes observed. The IJPs were unaffected by guanethedine but were blocked by procaine. IJPs could not be elicited by stimulation of either the pelvic parasympathetic or periarterial sympathetic nerves. In some cells, the IJP was preceded by a brief depolarization, which probably results from the stimulation of excitatory nerves to the same cell.3. Excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) were observed in about 5% of cells of the longitudinal coat in response to stimulation of the intramural nerves. When the pelvic nerves were stimulated, EJPs were observed in most cells of both the longitudinal and circular muscle coats. The EJP in the guinea-pig colon was blocked by hyoscine.4. The interaction of the IJP evoked by intrinsic nerve stimulation and the EJP evoked by pelvic nerve stimulation was examined. When both nerve supplies were stimulated together, only an IJP was observed.5. The nature of the innervation of the colon and the origin of intrinsic non-adrenergic inhibitory neurones is discussed.

Effect of parasympathetic nerve stimulation on the uterine vascular bed

Direct stimulation of the pelvic parasympathetic nerves of 4 nonpregnant and 20 gravid ewes between 51 and 136 days' gestation caused no change in uterine vascular conductance. Similarly, surgical and pharmacologic pelvic parasympatholysis caused minimal or nonsignificant changes in uterine conductance and uterine blood flow. These results suggest that parasympathetic uterine vascular innervation is absent in the ewe.

Sexual dysfunction following radical surgery for cancer of the rectum

Sexual impotence is a common complication after abdominoperineal excision of cancer of the rectum, varying from 53 to 100 per cent in the recent experience of ten prominent surgeons. This contrasts sharply with the incidence of less than 10 per cent of impotence after rectal excision for ulcerative colitis. Ejaculation is controlled by the lumbar sympathetic system, probably the first lumbar ganglia. Control of erection is a function of the pelvic parasympathetic nerves originating from the second, third and fourth sacral nerves, the presacral plexus, and the pelvic parasympathetic multiple nerve fibers that travel around the lateral perirectal tissues and go to the area of the prostate gland. Probably these nerves are divided in the course of radical lateral dissections associated with operations for malignancy, and are a necessary price that has to be paid for thorough pelvic lymphatic dissection.

Role of the pelvic nerve vs. the abdominal sympathetic nerves in the reproductive function of the female rat.

The anatomy of the pelvic nerve (nervus erigens, pelvic parasympathetic nerve) is described for the rat. This nerve carries the afferents responsible for the induction of pseudopregnancy since the animals did not respond to mechanical cervical stimuli or to mating stimuli after bilateral pelvic neurectomy. However, the fertile eggs produced by such mating implanted normally, and developed to term fetuses when these neurectomized animals were made pseudopregnant by administration of a single injection of reserpine (1 mg/kg) on Day 1. These neurectomized animals were unable to deliver their litters spontaneously. Massive deciduoma formation could be elicited in pseudopregnant pelvic-neurectomized animals. The prolongation of pseudopregnancy, known to accompany this growth, did not occur, however. This suggests that the deciduoma-bearing uterus extends the pseudopregnancy by a neurogenic stimulus rather than by a hormonal one. Extensive abdominal sympathectomy was compatible with all phases of pregnancy, fro...

EXTRINSIC NERVES OF THE CHICKEN'S UTERUS (SHELL GLAND).

AbstractEighty‐six White Leghorn chickens were examined in a study of the neural components of the hen's uterus (shell gland). All nerves supplying the uterus were found to originate from only the left side of the body.Contributions from the sympathetic nervous system were supplied by the hypogastric nerve, which is the direct continuation of the aortic plexus, coursing along the hypogastric artery to the uterus. The parasympathetic pelvic nerves originate from the pelvic visceral rami of spinal nerves 30 — 33. The several ganglia and numerous nerves situated along the left pelvic nerve compose the left pelvic plexus. Nerves emanating from the left pelvic plexus course along the middle uterine and posterior uterine arteries to their termination on the uterus. The ganglia situated on the right pelvic nerve are not considered to constitute a right pelvic plexus, as they make no direct contribution to the reproductive system.

Modern treatment of Hirschsprung's disease.

Hirschsprung's disease (congenital megacolon) is a congenital malformation of the pelvic parasympathetic system consisting of absence of ganglion cells in Auerbach's plexus in a variable portion of the distal colon that is supplied by the pelvic nerve. The length of colon involved in this ganglionic deficit varies but always includes the internal sphincter, the rectum, and rectosigmoid.1The lesion may extend more proximally, but rarely beyond the sigmoid. In some instances longer portions of colon may be involved, but rarely the whole colon; and in these situations a congenital malformation exists in the vagal fibers that supply the colon to some point in the sigmoid, as well as the pelvic parasympathetic nerve that supplies the remainder of the colon. The detection of the congenital lesion in the intestine wall can be made on histological sections stained with hematoxylin, eosin, or other routine tissue stain. That special stains are required