Lecture 2 - The gut and the peritoneal cavity Flashcards
What cell type is the peritoneum made up of?
Simple squamous epithelium called mesothelium. It is then supported by a thin layer of areolar connective tissue.
What does the peritoneum do?
Lines the abdominal cavity and encloses the peritoneal cavity.
What is found in the peritoneal cavity?
It is a potential space so there is a small amount of fluid and nothing else.
Which abdominal organs lie above the abdominal cavity in the thoracic cage?
- Liver
- Gall bladder
- Transverse colon
- Spleen
- Stomach
Which abdominal organs lie just below the abdominal cavity in the pelvic cavity?
- Sigmoid colon
- Rectum
What tissue does the gut arise from?
Endoderm and splanchnic mesoderm.
How are intra-abdominal organs arranged in the abdominal cavity?
They are suspended form the posterior abdominal wall in peritoneal reflections called mesenteries (dorsal mesentery).
What do the mesenteries do?
They are peritoneal folds that attach the viscera to the abdominal wall and contain blood vessels, nerves and lymphatics that supply the viscera.
What lines the peritoneal cavity?
Parietal peritoneum lines the abdominal wall whilst the visceral peritoneum lines the suspended organs/viscera.
What does retroperitoneal mean?
Refers to the structures such as the kidneys and the great vessels that lie between the parietal peritoneum and the abdominal wall.
What structures are retroperitoneal (originally)?
- Kidneys and ureters
- Suprarenal glands
- Aorta and IVC
- Nerves (lumbar plexus and sympathetic trunk)
- Oesophagus
- Rectum
Which structures were originally intra-peritoneal but became secondarily retroperitoneal?
- Duodenum (apart from first part)
- Pancreas (except tail)
- Colon (ascending and descending only)
How can the GI tract be divided?
Can be divided into three different regions:
- Foregut
- Midgut
- Hindgut
What makes up the foregut?
Distal third of the oesophagus to the second part of the duodenum at the entrance of the bile duct (major duodenal papilla).
Describe the structure of mesenteries for the foregut?
Has a dorsal mesentery as well as a ventral mesentery.
What is the blood supply for the foregut?
Coeliac trunk, which also supplies the liver, lower oesophagus, stomach, pancreas and spleen.
What makes up the midgut?
Second part of the duodenum to two-thirds along the transverse colon.
What is the blood supply for the midgut?
Superior mesenteric artery
What makes up the hindgut?
Distal third of the transverse colon to the rectum.
What is the blood supply for the hindgut?
Inferior mesenteric artery.
Where do the coeliac trunk, SMA and IMA branch off from?
Abdominal aorta
What does the ventral mesentery split into?
The falciform ligament and the less momentum.
What happens to the ventral mesentery as it develops?
The ventral mesentery contains the liver however as the liver grows, it moves to the right and separates from the ventral mesentery and spleen which move to the left side of the body. The lesser omentum then moves posteriorly.
What is the epiploic foramen?
The entrance to the lesser sac/omentum.
What is the greater omentum?
It is the lower part of the dorsal foregut mesentery that extends down as a double fold anterior to the intestine.
Describe the movement of peritoneal fluid.
Moves upwards towards the diaphragm whereas the inflammatory exudate moves downwards towards the pelvis.
What is the pyloric sphincter?
A ring of smooth muscle at the distal end of the pyloric canal in the stomach prevents the movement of chyme into the duodenum.
Where is the most common area for duodenal ulcers?
Near the duodenal cap which is the first part of the duodenum.
Where do the main bile duct and the accessory pancreatic duct enter the duodenum?
The major duodenal and minor duodenal papilla respectively.
What are the four parts of the duodenum and what is their location in relation to other structures?
- Anterior - to bile duct, gasproduodenal artery, portal vein and IVC
- Descending - pancreatic bile duct enters here
- Inferior - crosses the IVC and is posterior to SMA
- Ascending - terminates at the duodenojejunal flexure
What are the differences between the jejunum and the ileum?
Jejunum
- Proximal two-fifths
- Larger in diameter than ileum
- Upper L quadrant
- Longer vasa recta
- Less prominent arterial arcades
- Supplied by the jejunal arteries (branch of SMA)
Ileum
- Distal three-fifths
- Small in diameter than jejunum
- Lower R quadrant
- Shorter vasa recta
- Prominent arterial arcades
- Supplied by the ileal arteries (branch of the SMA)