Innervation[edit]
The kidney and nervous system communicate via the renal plexus, whose fibers course along the renal arteries to reach each kidney.[9] Input from the sympathetic nervous system triggers vasoconstriction in the kidney, thereby reducing renal blood flow.[9] The kidney also receives input from the parasympathetic nervous system, by way of the renal branches of the vagus nerve (cranial nerve X); the function of this is yet unclear.[9][10] Sensory input from the kidney travels to the T10-11 levels of the spinal cord and is sensed in the corresponding dermatome.[9] Thus, pain in the flank region may be referred from corresponding kidney.[9]