Ileocolic nodes
Nodi ileocolici
Lymph nodes along the ileocolic artery, draining the terminal ileum, caecum, appendix and start of the ascending colon.
At a glance
- English
- Ileocolic nodes
- Latin (TA2)
- Nodi ileocolici
- System
- Lymphatic
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the ileocolic nodes
The ileocolic nodes form a chain along the ileocolic artery, the lowest branch from the right side of the superior mesenteric artery. They run from the region of the ileocaecal junction in the right iliac fossa up and to the left towards the root of the mesentery. Near the bowel the chain includes the precaecal and retrocaecal nodes, in front of and behind the caecum, and the appendicular nodes in the mesoappendix.
The ileocolic artery runs behind the peritoneum of the back wall of the abdomen, passing in front of the right ureter and the gonadal vessels, and divides near the caecum into branches for the ileum, the caecum, the appendix and the ascending colon. The nodes follow these branches and the trunk.
Lymph comes to them from the last part of the ileum, the caecum and the appendix, and from the lower part of the ascending colon. Their outflow passes along the artery to the central superior mesenteric nodes around the main trunk of the superior mesenteric artery, and from there into the intestinal trunk.
These nodes are often enlarged in mesenteric adenitis in children, a cause of right lower abdominal pain that can be hard to tell from appendicitis. They are commonly involved in Crohn's disease of the terminal ileum. In cancer of the caecum and ascending colon, and in some tumours of the appendix, the ileocolic nodes are removed with the bowel during a right hemicolectomy.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Afferent vessels from the terminal ileum, caecum, appendix and lower ascending colon, including outflow from the precaecal, retrocaecal and appendicular nodes.
- Drains into
- Efferent vessels pass to the central superior mesenteric nodes, then to the intestinal trunk.
- Drains
- Filters lymph from the ileocaecal region. Enlarged in mesenteric adenitis and Crohn's disease; removed with the bowel in right hemicolectomy for caecal and ascending colon cancer.
Anthromica
See the ileocolic nodes where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
