T7 spinal nerve

Nervus spinalis T7

NervousNervesThoraxLeft and right

View left in 3D View right in 3D

What it is
The T7 spinal nerve leaves the spinal canal between T7 and T8. Its sensory (dorsal) and motor (ventral) roots meet just beyond the dorsal root ganglion; the short mixed nerve then splits into a small dorsal ramus for the back muscles and skin and a larger ventral ramus, which becomes the 7th intercostal nerve.
Function
Carries motor fibres to the muscles of its segment (myotome) and sensation back from its strip of skin (dermatome): a band of skin at the level of the xiphoid process.
Size
About 2-3 mm thick; the mixed nerve is only ~1 cm long before it divides
Clinical note
T7 marks the xiphoid; lower intercostal nerves also supply the abdominal wall, so chest disease can mimic abdominal pain.

Nearby nervous structures 5th intercostal nerve, T10 spinal nerve, T11 spinal nerve, T3 spinal nerve, T4 spinal nerve, T5 spinal nerve, T6 dorsal root ganglion, T6 spinal nerve, T8 spinal nerve, T9 spinal nerve