Inferior diaphragmatic nodes
Nodi phrenici inferiores
Small lymph nodes on the abdominal surface of the diaphragm, near the aortic hiatus along the inferior phrenic arteries.
At a glance
- English
- Inferior diaphragmatic nodes
- Latin (TA2)
- Nodi phrenici inferiores
- System
- Lymphatic
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the inferior diaphragmatic nodes
The inferior diaphragmatic nodes, also called the inferior phrenic nodes, are a small group of parietal lymph nodes of the abdomen. They lie on the underside of the diaphragm towards the back, near the aortic hiatus and the crura, along the inferior phrenic arteries. They are few and small, and they are separate from the superior diaphragmatic nodes on the thoracic surface of the muscle.
The inferior phrenic arteries usually arise from the aorta just below the diaphragm, or from the coeliac trunk, and run up and outward over the crura to the underside of the diaphragm, giving small branches to the suprarenal glands. The nodes lie along them, close to the upper ends of the coeliac and lumbar nodes around the aorta. The suprarenal glands, upper poles of the kidneys and the back of the liver are all close by.
They receive lymph from the posterior part of the diaphragm and from the back of the liver, especially the bare area that lies in direct contact with the diaphragm. Their outflow passes down to the lumbar nodes around the abdominal aorta, which lead on to the lumbar trunks and the cisterna chyli.
These nodes are rarely felt or seen in health. They become relevant in the spread of liver tumours and of cancers of the upper abdomen, and may be noted on CT. Their links with the lymph vessels passing through the diaphragm form one of the routes by which disease can move between the abdomen and the chest.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Afferent vessels from the posterior part of the diaphragm and the posterior surface and bare area of the liver.
- Drains into
- Efferent vessels pass to the lumbar nodes around the abdominal aorta.
- Drains
- Filters lymph from the back of the diaphragm and the bare area of the liver. A minor route for spread of liver and upper abdominal tumours, and a link between abdomen and chest.
Anthromica
See the inferior diaphragmatic 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.
