Ventrolateral cordotomy for the relief of pain in the left lower limb is effective due to the cutting of: (A) Left ventral spinothalamic tract, (B) Left lateral spinothalamic tract, (C) Right ventral spinothalamic tract, (D) Right lateral spinothalamic tract
Answer is D. Fibres from nociceptors and thermoreceptors synapse on neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The axons from these dorsal horn neurons cross the midline and ascend in the ventrolateral quadrant of the spinal cord, where they form the ventrolateral spinothalamic pathway.