Trigeminal ganglion

Ganglion trigeminale

NervousNervesHeadLeft and right

View left in 3D View right in 3D

What it is
A crescent-shaped sensory ganglion the size of a fingernail, lodged in a dural pocket (Meckel's cave) on the tip of the petrous temporal bone. It holds the cell bodies of the facial sensory neurons; its convex front edge gives off the three divisions.
Function
Relay station equivalent to a dorsal root ganglion for the face: the first-order sensory neurons of touch, pain and temperature sit here.
Size
About 15-20 x 5 mm
Clinical note
The ganglion can be reached with a needle through the foramen ovale to inject or heat it for intractable trigeminal neuralgia; it is also where the chickenpox virus hides before shingles of the face.

Part of Trigeminal nerve (CN V), root

Contains Mandibular nerve (V3), Maxillary nerve (V2), Ophthalmic nerve (V1)

Nearby nervous structures Abducens nerve (CN VI), Abducens nerve root (CN VI), Amygdala, Facial nerve (CN VII), trunk, Oculomotor nerve (CN III), Oculomotor nerve root (CN III), Optic nerve (CN II), intracranial part, Optic tract, Trochlear nerve (CN IV), Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)