Question

Identify the location and orientation of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spinal nerves as they exit the intervertebral column. In your answer, note if the nerves emerge superior or inferior to the intervertebral foramen.

Answer 1

Spinal nerves are numbered based on their exit points from the vertebral column, with cervical nerves (C1-C8) exiting above their respective vertebrae (except C8), thoracic (T1-T12) and lumbar (L1-L5) nerves exiting below their corresponding vertebrae, and sacral nerves (S1-S5) exiting from the sacral foramina.

Step-by-step explanation:

Spinal Nerves Location and Orientation

There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves that exit the vertebral column, and they are grouped based on the region of the spine they emerge from: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral. The cervical, thoracic, and lumbar nerves exit through the intervertebral foramen located between the vertebrae corresponding to their designation. Specifically:

• The cervical spinal nerves (C1 to C8) exit above their corresponding vertebrae, except for C8, which exits below the seventh cervical vertebra.
• The thoracic spinal nerves (T1 to T12) emerge inferior to the corresponding numbered vertebra.
• The lumbar spinal nerves (L1 to L5) also exit inferiorly relative to the corresponding lumbar vertebrae.
• The sacral spinal nerves (S1 to S5) emerge from the sacral foramina on the sacrum.

The numbering of the nerves is from superior to inferior, with the sacral and coccygeal nerves being an exception as they emerge from the foramina along the respective sacrum and coccyx.