Topography, architecture and structure of the plexus submucosus externus (Schabadasch) of the porcine small intestine in scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

Whole-mount preparations of the porcine small intestine, consisting of the tela submucosa and the adjacent lamina muscularis mucosae, were used for scanning electron-microscopic investigation of the plexus submucosus externus (Schabadasch) after enzymatic digestion, fixation and HCI hydrolysis. The present results confirm previous light-microscopic data and provide irrefutable proof that within the submucosal plexus, considered by most authors as one ganglionated nerve plexus situated in the entirety of the tela submucosa, two distinct nerve meshworks can be distinguished, one lying close to the lamina muscularis mucosae, i.e., the plexus submucosus internus (Meissner), and the other, i.e., the plexus submucosus externus (Schabadasch), situated in the outer region of the tela submucosa against the circular smooth muscle layer. In addition to the distinct location of both plexuses, they are quite different with regard to the pattern and diameter of their nerve strands and the number and appearance of their ganglia.