The great auricular nerve is a cutaneous nerve of the head. It originates from the

cervical plexus The cervical plexus is a plexus of the anterior rami of the first four cervical spinal nerves which arise from C1 to C4 cervical segment in the neck. They are located laterally to the transverse processes between prevertebral muscles from the medi ...

, with branches of

spinal nerve A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human body there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, one on each side of the vertebral column. These are grouped into th ...

s C2 and C3. It provides sensory nerve supply to the skin over the parotid gland and the mastoid process of the temporal bone, and surfaces of the outer ear. Pain resulting from parotitis is caused by an impingement on the great auricular nerve.

Structure

The great auricular nerve is the largest of the ascending branches of the

. It arises from the second and third cervical nerves. It winds around the posterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and, after perforating the deep fascia, ascends upon that muscle beneath the platysma muscle to the parotid gland. Here, it divides into an anterior and a posterior branch.

Branches

* The anterior branch (ramus anterior; facial branch) is distributed to the skin of the face over the parotid gland. It communicates with the facial nerve inside the parotid gland. * The posterior branch (ramus posterior; mastoid branch) supplies the skin over the mastoid process and on the back of the auricle, except at its upper part; a filament pierces the auricula to reach its lateral surface, where it is distributed to the

lobule In anatomy, a lobe is a clear anatomical division or extension of an organ (as seen for example in the brain, lung, liver, or kidney) that can be determined without the use of a microscope at the gross anatomy level. This is in contrast to t ...

and lower part of the

concha Concha and Concho means "Animal shell, shell" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The word can also refer to: Places * Concho, Arizona, a frontier town now functioning as a retirement community in Apache County * Concho, Oklahoma * Concho Co ...

. The posterior branch communicates with the smaller occipital, the auricular branch of the vagus, and the posterior auricular branch of the facial.

Function

The anterior branch of the great auricular nerve supplies the face over the parotid gland. The posterior branch of the great auricular nerve supplies the face over the mastoid process of the temporal bone, It also supplies parts of the auricle.

Clinical significance

The great auricular nerve may be damaged during surgery on the parotid gland, reducing sensation to the face. Pain resulting from parotitis is caused by an impingement on the great auricular nerve.

Additional images

File:Gray784.png, Dermatome distribution of the trigeminal nerve, also showing the sensory distribution of the great auricular, lesser occipital, and greater occipital nerves. File:Gray1210.png, Side of neck, showing chief surface markings.

References

External links

Diagram at aapmr.org
* - "Diagram of the cervical plexus." {{Authority control Nerves of the head and neck