Submandibular ganglion

Submandibular ganglion
Distribution of the maxillary and mandibular nerves, and the submaxillary ganglion. (Submandibular ganglion visible at bottom left, but not labeled.)
Parasympathetic connections of the submaxillary and superior cervical ganglia. (Submaxillary ganglion labeled at center right.)
Details
Innervates	submandibular gland, sublingual gland
Identifiers
Latin	ganglion submandibulare
Dorlands /Elsevier	g_02/12385004
TA	A14.3.02.009
FMA	6966
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy []

The submandibular ganglion (or submaxillary ganglion in older texts) is part of the human autonomic nervous system. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck. (The others are the otic ganglion, pterygopalatine ganglion, and ciliary ganglion).

The submandibular ganglion is small and in shape. It is situated above the deep portion of the submandibular gland, on the hyoglossus muscle, near the posterior border of the mylohyoid muscle.

The ganglion 'hangs' by two nerve filaments from the lower border of the lingual nerve (itself a branch of the mandibular nerve, CN V₃). It is suspended from the lingual nerve by two filaments, one anterior and one posterior. Through the posterior of these it receives a branch from the chorda tympani nerve which runs in the sheath of the lingual nerve.

Like other parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck, the submandibular ganglion is the site of synapse for parasympathetic fibers and carries other types of nerve fiber that do not synapse in the ganglion. In summary, the fibers carried in the ganglion are:

Mandibular division of trifacial nerve, seen from the middle line.

Diagram of efferent sympathetic nervous system.