Urinary System Pt.1 - The Urinary System Flashcards
What is the urinary systems main job?
Filter and purify blood and send whatever is not needed in the blood as urine
Where are the kidneys located?
Left Kidney - Posteriorly in abdomen
Right Kidney - Sits below the liver so not equal height as the left
What are the kidneys covered by?
A fibrous capsule and surrounded by fat (perirenal)
Note: Adrenal glands on top of kidneys not only used for hormone production but has endocrine glands that release into bloodstream
What enters into the kidneys on the medial side?
Right and Left renal artery and veins along with ureter
What is the renal artery a branch of?
Branch of abdominal artery
Where does the renal vein take the blood
Directly to the inferior vena cava
What does the urine leave the kidney through to get to the urinary bladder?
Ureter (Left & Right)
What is the urinary bladder and where is it located?
Superior to the urethra and is a storage facility for urine
Where is the urethra located and what does it do?
Where the urine is expelled through; inferior to the bladder in females and in males
What is the renal hilum?
Medial side of kidney where we have things like the renal arteries and veins as well as the ureter exit
What part of the kidney is considered the functional section?
Renal cortex
Note: Section where blood filtration occurs
What is the renal sinus?
A cavity within the kidney that the hilum expands into and it contains part of the renal pelvis
What makes up the renal medulla
The renal pyramid which is inferior to the renal cortex
What is the path urine takes from the renal pyramid to the ureter?
Each renal pyramid drains waste into the minor calyses and those join to form major calyses and those join to form the renal pelvis which heads to the ureter
What is the urinary bladder made of and where is it located with respect to the ureters that dump urine into it?
Smooth muscle - like a container
* Elastic walls that stretch & empty when too stretched
* Located anterior to the ureters
What contracts to push urine into the urethra?
Detrusor muscle - smooth muscle found in walls
What does the urinary bladder contain that is similar to the anus? What do they do and where are they located?
Internal and external urethral sphincter
- Internal urethral sphincter - Just superior to the urethra and involuntary muscle that open and lets urine go
- External urethral sphincter - Composed of skeletal muscle, inferior to the internal urethral sphincter and inferior to the start of the urethra
