Expansion
Runs on the heads of the ribs, with about eleven or twelve ganglia and the stellate ganglion at its upper end
Expansion
- Descends over the heads of the ribs, deep to the parietal pleura, in the posterior mediastinum
- Carries about eleven or twelve ganglia
- Connects to each intercostal nerve by white and grey rami communicantes
- Gives the greater, lesser and least splanchnic nerves from the T5 to T12 segments
- The stellate (cervicothoracic) ganglion lies at its upper end, on the neck of the first rib
Its position on the rib heads explains the clinical associations: an apical lung tumour invades the chain and produces Horner syndrome (ptosis, miosis, anhidrosis), while the T2 and T3 ganglia are the target of surgical sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis.