Corpus: Superior mesenteric plexus

The superior mesenteric plexus is a vegetative nerve plexus localised in the upper abdomen around the superior mesenteric artery.

The superior mesenteric plexus consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibres and several ganglion cell collections, the superior mesenteric ganglion. Together with the coeliac plexus, it forms the so-called "solar plexus".

The superior mesenteric plexus regulates the secretory and motor activity of various abdominal organs via visceromotor fibres. These include the small intestine, the pancreas and the colon up to the flexura coli sinistra. It also receives viscerosensitive fibres from these organs.

The superior mesenteric plexus has such a dense network of fibres that it is sometimes recognisable in imaging procedures as a characteristic perivascular "vascular collar".