Pharyngeal muscles
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Nirav Kaneria had no recorded disclosures.
View Nirav Kaneria's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosuresThere are multiple pharyngeal muscles that make up the structure of the pharynx. They comprise circular and longitudinal muscles whose overall function is to propel food into the oesophagus. The circular muscles are known as the pharyngeal constrictors.
On this page:
Gross anatomy
Outer/circular muscles
These muscles comprise the outer layer of musculature and act to constrict the walls of the pharynx during swallowing:
Inner/longitudinal muscles
These muscles make up the inner layer of musculature - they act to elevate (shorten and widen) the pharynx and larynx during swallowing and speaking.
Innervation
The stylopharyngeus muscle is supplied by the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX). All other muscles are supplied by the vagus nerve (CN X) via the pharyngeal plexus.
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Arterial supply
The blood supply for the muscles is provided by the external carotid artery. The main branches include the ascending pharyngeal artery, facial artery, lingual artery, and maxillary artery.
Venous drainage
Venous drainage is into the pharyngeal venous plexus and then subsequent drainage into the internal jugular vein.
References
- 1. Keith L. Moore, Arthur F. Dalley, A. M. R. Agur. Clinically Oriented Anatomy. (2010) ISBN: 9780781775250 - Google Books
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