Page 97 - Cardiac Nursing

CHAPTER 3 / Regulation of Cardiac Output and Blood Pressure 73

n Figure 3-4 The autonomic nervous system. Parasymphathetic (craniosacral) divisions send long pregan-
glionic fibers that synapse with a second nerve in ganglia located close to or within the organs that are then in-
nervated by short postganglionic fibers. The sympathetic (thoracolumbar) division sends relatively short pre-
ganglionic fibers to the chains of paravertebral ganglia and to certain outlying ganglia. The second cell then
sends relatively long postganglionic fibers to the organs they innervate. (From Rodman, M. J. & Smith, D. W.
[1985]. Pharmacology and drug therapy in nursing [3rd ed., p. 302]. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott.)