THE MAJORITY of the nerve fibers that are distributed to the biliary tree are derived from the sympathetic system and reach the liver by way of the celiac plexus. Those vagal fibers involved come chiefly from the right vagus and pass to the celiac ganglions, where they become incorporated in some of the sympathetic trunks.
The sympathetic fibers are derived from the greater splanchnic nerves having their origin predominantly from the sixth to the ninth thoracic sympathetic ganglions and occasionally from the lesser splanchnic nerves which arise from the tenth to the twelfth sympathetic ganglions.1
Our experience confirms the findings of Raigorodsky,2 who divided the hepatic plexus, which is formed by the fibers approaching the liver from the celiac plexus, into anterior and posterior portions. The anterior hepatic plexus always follows the hepatic artery, the pathway changing as the course of the artery varies. The posterior hepatic plexus of nerves passes to the right superiorly