The innervation of the vertebral column

The posterior elements of the vertebral column are innervated by branches of the dorsal rami of the spinal nerves, while the intervertebral discs and related ligaments are innervated by various branches of the ventral rami and sympathetic nervous system. A knowledge of this nerve supply forms the basis for a systematic classification of the possible sources of primary spinal pain, and the basis for several diagnostic techniques that use needles to provoke and anaesthetize putative sources of pain. In particular, the demonstration of a nerve supply to intervertebral discs vindicates the concept that these structures intrinsically may be sources of pain.