Question

He pain from the peripheral part of the diaphragm is very sharp and localized in nature. Explain why this is.

a) Rich somatic innervation
b) Sparse somatic innervation
c) Abundant sympathetic innervation
d) Lack of visceral innervation

Answer 1

The pain from the peripheral diaphragm is sharp and localized due to rich somatic innervation from the phrenic nerve, which leads to referred pain felt in areas like the shoulder or neck.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sharp and localized nature of peripheral diaphragm pain can be explained by its rich somatic innervation. The phrenic nerve, a systemic nerve from the cervical plexus, innervates the diaphragm and is connected to the spinal cord at cervical levels 3 to 5. When irritation to the diaphragm occurs, strong visceral sensations are often felt in unexpected places due to a phenomenon called referred pain. The visceral sensory fibers from the diaphragm enter the spinal cord at the same level as the somatosensory fibers from the neck and shoulder. The brain misinterprets these sensations from the diaphragm as being from areas like the shoulder or neck.