Corpus: Pancreatic plexus

The pancreatic plexus is a nerve plexus in the abdominal cavity that is part of the coeliac plexus and runs along the blood vessels that supply the pancreas.

The pancreatic plexus is primarily visible on the posterosuperior portion of the pancreatic head. Smaller axon bundles extend from this area to innervate more distal parts of the pancreas, although these smaller bundles are usually not visible to the eye.

The pancreatic plexus consists mainly of sympathetic axons from the coeliac ganglion and parasympathetic axons from the posterior vagus trunk. It supplies all efferent axons to the pancreas and innervates the pancreatic islets, acini, ducts, and blood vessels. Both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves influence the endocrine functions of the pancreas, while parasympathetic efferent fibres are the primary innervation for the exocrine acini.

Visceral sensory fibres, which carry afferent signals from the pancreas, also pass through this plexus to reach the central nervous system.