AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE PAIN SENSE IN THE PLEURAL MEMBRANES

ANATOMY  The parietal pleura receives its innervation from the intercostal, sympathetic and vagus nerves (Luschka,¹ Poirier and Charpy²). Following the teachings of Luschka most anatomists state that fibers from the phrenic nerve also enter this portion of the pleura, but the evidence for such belief is not final. Stöhr³ states that the nerves end partly in the lamellated capsules of Pacini, partly in the smaller corpuscles of Golgi, both of which are endowed with sensory functions.The visceral pleura is supplied by nerve fibers from the pulmonary plexuses which originate in the vagus and sympathetic nerves.The pericardial pleura receives two delicate branches of the vagus coming from the plexus pulmonalis or plexus esophageus, one extending over the anterior, and one over the posterior portion of the sac (Spalteholtz⁴). Most authors state that the phrenic nerve also supplies the pericardium (Van Gebuchten,⁵