Compartments of the neck: Contents (English)

The visceral compartment, which is enclosed by pretracheal and buccopharyngeal fascia, contains the thyroid and gland, parathyroid glands, larynx, trachea, hypopharynx, recurrent laryngeal nerve and esophagus.The vertebral compartment contains the cervical vertebrae and deep muscles associated with them, which include the longus colli muscle, the scalenus anterior, medius and posterior muscles, the deep cervical muscles (splenius cervicis, splenius capitis, semispinalis cervicis, semispinalis capitis, multifidus muscle) and the levator scapulae muscle. The vascular compartment of the neck is so called according to its contents. It contains the major vascular structures of the neck which include the common carotid arteries and internal jugular veins. It also contains the vagus nerve, part of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the deep cervical lymph nodes.The three spaces of the neck mainly contain a combination of subcutaneous fat, loose connective tissue and lymph nodes.