PPC OMM Block 8 Practice Exam

Which vertebral levels sympathetically innervate the esophagus and upper extremities?

T1-4 T4-7 T3-6 T5-9

Correct Answer:

T3-6

Explanation:

Mid-thoracic sympathetic outflow supplies both the thoracic esophagus and the upper extremities. The preganglionic neurons lie in the intermediolateral cell column of the thoracic spinal cord, and their fibers enter the sympathetic chain to synapse in the chain’s ganglia. Postganglionic fibers then reach their targets: for the esophagus, they join the thoracic esophageal plexus, influencing motor function and blood flow; for the upper limb, they travel with arteries to form periarterial and skin/vessel innervation in the arm. Because the same middle thoracic levels give rise to both of these pathways, those mid-thoracic segments are the ones most consistently implicated in sympathetic innervation of both the esophagus and the upper extremities.

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