The inferior cervical ganglion is situated between the base of the transverse process of the last cervical vertebra and the neck of the first rib

First rib

The first rib is the most curved and usually the shortest of all the ribs; it is broad and flat, its surfaces looking upward and downward, and its borders inward and outward....

, on the medial side of the costocervical artery.

Its form is irregular; it is larger in size than the middle cervical ganglion

Middle cervical ganglion

The middle cervical ganglion is the smallest of the three cervical ganglia, and is occasionally absent.It is placed opposite the sixth cervical vertebra, usually in front of, or close to, the inferior thyroid artery....

, and is frequently fused with the first thoracic ganglion, under which circumstances it is then called the "stellate ganglion

Stellate ganglion

The stellate ganglion is a sympathetic ganglion formed by the fusion of the inferior cervical ganglion and the first thoracic ganglion...

."

Path

It is probably formed by the coalescence of two ganglia which correspond to the seventh and eighth cervical nerves.

It is connected to the middle cervical ganglion by two or more cords, one of which forms a loop around the subclavian artery

Subclavian artery

In human anatomy, the subclavian arteries are two major arteries of the upper thorax , below the clavicle . They receive blood from the top of the aorta...

 and supplies offsets to it. This loop is named the ansa subclavia

Subclavian loop

Subclavian loop , also known as Vieussens' ansa after French anatomist Raymond Vieussens , is a nerve cord that is a connection between the middle and inferior cervical ganglion, and forms a loop around the subclavian artery....

 (Vieussenii).

The ganglion sends gray rami communicantes to the seventh and eighth cervical nerves.

Offsets to bloodvessels

The offsets to bloodvessels form plexuses on the subclavian artery and its branches.

The plexus on the vertebral artery

Vertebral artery

The vertebral arteries are major arteries of the neck. They branch from the subclavian arteries and merge to form the single midline basilar artery in a complex called the vertebrobasilar system, which supplies blood to the posterior part of the circle of Willis and thus significant portions of the...

 is continued on to the basilar, posterior cerebral, and cerebellar arteries.

The plexus on the inferior thyroid artery

Inferior thyroid artery

The inferior thyroid artery arrises from the thyrocervical trunk and passes upward, in front of the vertebral artery and Longus colli, then turns medially behind the carotid sheath and its contents, and also behind the sympathetic trunk, the middle cervical ganglion resting upon the...

 accompanies the artery to the thyroid gland, and communicates with the recurrent and external laryngeal nerves, with the superior cardiac nerve

Superior cardiac nerve

The superior cardiac nerve arises by two or more branches from the superior cervical ganglion, and occasionally receives a filament from the trunk between the first and second cervical ganglia....

, and with the plexus on the common carotid artery

Common carotid artery

In human anatomy, the common carotid artery is an artery that supplies the head and neck with oxygenated blood; it divides in the neck to form the external and internal carotid arteries. - Structure :...

.