The Peritoneum Flashcards
What is the largest and longest membrane in the body?
peritoneum
What is the serous membrane that lines the abdominal, cranial part of pelvic, and scrotal cavities, and reflects out and around the organs contained within it?
peritoneum
What are the four functions of the peritoneum?
friction reduction
free movement as in mesentery
fixation as by the ligaments
fat storage as in omentum
What is the name for the kidneys being covered by peritoneum on their ventral surface only?
retroperitoneal
Why can the kidneys being retroperitoneal cause delays in diagnosing renal damage?
trauma to the kidneys can cause blood or urine to accumulate in the retropeteonal space which cannot typically be felt through palpation or needle aspiration
What is the potential space between the visceral and parietal peritoneum?
potential space, contains nothing except for a small amount of serous fluid
Why is the peritoneum of the male closed but females have two openings?
females have 2 uterine tubes, these openings make infections more common
What conditions are membranes under when they are pressed firmly together by not physically attached and there is no actual space between them but only the potential for membranes to separate and create one?
normal
Which mesentery is most likely to disappear?
ventral due to the aorta being dorsal
What connects the intestinal and reproductive tracts with the abdominal wall?
mesenteries
What are early viscera packed tightly against the body wall by the portions of the gut that enter later, causing their mesenteries to partially fuse with dorsal body wall?
fixed viscera
Why are fixed viscera important?
landmark in surgery
What does the length of mesentery determine?
ease of access in surgery
What are regions of the gut that are retracted late, are not crowded, and retain their longer mesenteries?
mobile viscera
What the narrow attachment of the long mesojejunum and mesoileum to the dorsal body wall?
root of mesentery
