Intermediate Intercostal and Subcostal Nerves Quiz

Q1. Between which muscle layers does a typical intercostal nerve travel for much of its course?

• External intercostals and skin
• Internal and innermost intercostals
• Parietal and visceral pleura
• External and internal intercostals

Q2. What is the usual superior to inferior arrangement of the main intercostal neurovascular bundle?

• Vein, artery, nerve
• Nerve, artery, vein
• Artery, nerve, vein
• Nerve, vein, artery

Q3. Where does the main intercostal neurovascular bundle course relative to the rib above?

• Through its medullary cavity
• Across its external surface only
• Along its superior margin
• In its costal groove along the inferior margin

Q4. Which intercostal nerves are generally considered typical?

• T3 through T6
• T1 through T2
• C5 through C8
• T7 through T12 only

Q5. Why are the first and second intercostal nerves considered atypical?

• They do not leave the vertebral canal
• They contain only sensory fibers
• They arise from cervical spinal nerves
• Their distributions differ from typical segmental intercostal nerves

Q6. Which branch of the second intercostal nerve supplies skin of the axilla and medial upper arm?

• Intercostobrachial nerve
• Thoracodorsal nerve
• Long thoracic nerve
• Suprascapular nerve

Q7. Which intercostal nerves continue from the thoracic wall into the anterior abdominal wall?

• T7 through T11
• C5 through C8
• T1 through T4
• L2 through L5

Q8. What name is commonly given to the anterior rami of T7 through T11 after they pass beyond the costal margin?

• Thoracoabdominal nerves
• Pelvic splanchnic nerves
• Lumbar splanchnic nerves
• Suboccipital nerves

Q9. How do sympathetic fibers enter the intercostal nerves?

• Through gray rami communicantes
• Through the vagus nerves
• Through the phrenic nerves
• Through posterior roots only

Q10. Which structures in the skin are controlled by sympathetic fibers carried in intercostal nerves?

• Hair follicles through somatic motor fibers only
• Skeletal muscles of the upper limb only
• Sweat glands, arrector pili, and cutaneous vessels
• Pulmonary alveoli only