Anatomy Of The Abdomen And Pelvis Flashcards
What is the foregut made up of?
Distal 3rd of the oesophagus to the 2nd part of the duodenum at entrance of the bile duct (major duodenal papilla)
What is the midgut made up of?
2nd part of the duodenum to two thirds along the transverse colon
What is the hindgut made up of?
Distal third of the transverse colon to the rectum
What does intraperitoneal mean and give an example of such a structure?
They are organs that are almost completely covered by the visceral peritoneum. These are structures that may be suspended form the abdominal wall by mesenteries. E.g. Most of the small intestine.
What does retroperitoneal mean and give and example of such a structure?
Structures that lie between the parietal peritoneum and abdominal wall. E.g. Kidneys and great vessels
Describe innervation of the gut consider both sympathetic and parasympathetic components.
Abdominal viscera supplied by autonomic system. Parasympathetic sensory comes from vagus nerve and pelvic splanchnic nerves (S2-S4) Sympathetic sensory mediates pain and occurs via thoracic splanchnic (T5-T12) and lumbar splanchnic (L1+L2)
What vessel supplies the foregut, liver, pancreas and spleen?
Coeliac trunk
What vessel supplies the midgut?
Superior mesenteric artery
What vessel supplies the hindgut?
Inferior mesenteric artery
How is the liver connected to the anterior abdominal wall?
Falciform ligament
What connects the stomach and the liver?
The lesser omentum
What divides the liver into right and left lobe (diaphragmatic surface)?
Ligamentum terres
What divides the liver into left and right functional lobes?
Gall bladder and inferior vena cava
What major venous vessels join to form the hepatic portal vein?
Superior mesenteric vein, inferior mesenteric vein and splenic vein
What artery supplies the liver?
The common hepatic artery which branches from the coeliac axis
How does venous blood from the liver drain to reach heart?
Drains into inferior vena cava via 3 short hepatic veins
Why are anastomoses between systemic and portal system important?
If there is raised pressure in the portal system (e.g. Caused by tumour) blood is shunted into the systemic system. This is sufficient to a point, but can cause problems because the vessel walls are thin so varisces (swellings) may form. These may burst leading to haemorrhage
Where does the spleen lie? What is it?
Lies posterior love you on the left side under ribs 9-11 and is suspended in dorsal foregut mesentery.
it is the largest lymphoid organ in the body
What systemic and portal vessels are involved in the abdominal anastomoses shown below as A,B,C and D?

A: systemic = oesophageal vein, portal = left gastric vein
B: systemic = inferior rectal vein, portal =
What are the retro-peritoneal structures?
Organs are retroperitoneal if they only have
What is a secondary retroperitoneal organ?
these organs originally developed with a mesentery, then became secondary retroperitoneal organs when the
What are primary retroperitoneal organs?
- Abdominal aorta and its branches
- inferior vena cava and its tributaries
- kidneys and ureters
- adrenal glands
- Nerves (lumbar plexus and sympathetic trunk)
How do the renal veins and arteries compare from left and right kidney? Where do the veins lie in comparison to the arteries?
veins are anterior to arteiries
The left kidney has a longer renal vein as the IVC is on the right side
the right kidney has a longer renal artery as the abdominal aorta is further to the left
Where do the left and right kidney lie?