Glossopharyngeal nerve injury

The glossopharyngeal nerve is a mixed nerve that contains motor and sensory fibers. After going out of the cranial fossa through the posterior cranial fossa, it reaches the pharyngeal wall between the internal and external carotid arteries. Its sensory fibers are the sensory afferent nerves of the tongue and pharynx, its motor branches are responsible for the soft palate function, and parasympathetic fiber ducts secrete the parotid glands. The glossopharyngeal nerve belongs to the posterior group of cerebral nerves, and there is relatively little chance of trauma. Most of the damage is caused by the fracture line spreading to the jugular foramen. The damage and injury of the glossopharyngeal nerve are often involved simultaneously with the cerebral nerves in the posterior group, and a single glossopharyngeal nerve injury is rarely seen clinically. It manifests as reduced or disappeared taste in the posterior 1/3 of the affected tongue, generally reduced or lost in the upper part of the pharynx, and drooping of the soft palate. More conservative treatment.