Peripheral ganglia supplying the genital smooth musculature in the female pig: an experimental study

The aim of the present study was to locate the sensory and autonomic ganglia innervating the female genital musculature in pigs. The retrograde neuronal tracers horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or fast blue (FB) were injected into the left retractor clitoridis muscle (RCM), which was treated as a typical model of the genital smooth musculature. Labelled cells were found in ipsilateral dorsal root ganglia Sl–S4, in bilateral sympathetic paravertebral ganglia from L5–L6 or L6–L7 to S3 and in the left and right caudal mesenteric ganglion. In two of the five animals treated, presumably preganglionic parasympathetic cells were labelled in the ipsilateral intermediate grey substance of the segments Sl–S2.