Q. I am slightly confused about muscularis externa. Is muscularis externa only present in places where muscularis mucosa is not? For example, the oral cavity, upper esophagus, and anal canal. Is it possible for them both to be present? And muscularis is not always present as a layer in the GI tract, correct? When present does it typically present in the same layer that the muscularis mucosa would be?
A. Those are great questions! As you noted, there are two “muscularis” layers in the GI tract: the muscularis mucosa and the muscularis externa.
- The muscularis mucosa is a thin little layer of smooth muscle that is part of the mucosa (which includes epithelium, lamina propria, and muscularis mucosa). It innervates the inner layers of the mucosa, and it also shows you nicely where the mucosa ends, and the submucosa begins.
- The muscularis externa is a thick layer of muscle that provides the main structural support all along the GI tract. It sits between the submucosa and the serosa/adventitia.
Basically the GI tract is just a tube with four concentric layers, like this:

From inside to outside, there’s mucosa (epithelium, lamina propria, and muscularis mucosa), submucosa, muscularis externa, and serosa/adventitia.
All levels of the GI tract have this exact structure, except for:
- the mouth (which I’m not allowed to discuss with you lol)
- the anus (which is only slightly different…its mucosa is comprised of just epithelium, with no lamina propria or muscularis mucosa).
I think that pretty much covers it. Having said all that, here are my direct answers (in blue)!