Question

what type of activities would there be if the rami communicantes was impaired

Answer 1

Please find the answer as below.

Rami connecting nerve fiber between spinal nerves and sympathetic trunk. It consist of two types. Gray ramus communicants and White ramus communicants.

Gray ramus communicants exist at every level of spinal cord and its function is to carry sympathetic signals from post ganglionic nerve fibers from paravertebral ganglia to it destination and vice versa. Motor function is to carry post ganglionic sympathetic axons to the spinal nerve; spinal nerve carry axons peripherally to skin blood vessels etc. Its major function is to connect the sympathetic chain to spinal nerve at all vertebral levels.

White ramus communicants: - its function is transfer the pain impulses from viscera back to spinal cord ie is sensory function. Motor function is to innervate this skin viscera gland and blood vessels by synapsing with postganglionic cell bodies .Damage to white ramus cause impairment in the sympathetic chain to spinal nerves at the vertebral level T1 - L2

Majorly Intervertebral disc of lumbar area are innervated with the help of rami communications. Impaired rami communication caused decrease pain originating from vertebral body and disc. So impaired ramus communication and improve the body function and cause pain relief in patient with discogenic pain. Injury to ramus communication can be cause of second horner’s syndrome .injury to rami communication can lead to less sympathetic innervation.