Animal Chiropractic Module 1 Practice Exam

The dorsal longitudinal ligament is the structure that runs along the back (dorsal) surface of the vertebral bodies from the axis downward. It is richly innervated by pain-sensing nerves (sinuvertebral nerves), so when a disc herniates posteriorly and material irritates or inflames this ligament, pain is generated and can be felt as back pain or referred pain within the spine. This makes the dorsal longitudinal ligament a key source of discogenic pain. The other structures described have different roles or locations: the annulus fibrosus is the tough outer ring of the disc, not a ligament along the spinal dorsal surface; the nucleus pulposus is the gel-like center of the disc; and the ventral longitudinal ligament lies on the front (ventral) surface of the vertebral bodies, not along the back.