Inferior pancreatic nodes

At a glance

English

Inferior pancreatic nodes

Latin (TA2)

Nodi pancreatici inferiores

System

Lymphatic

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the inferior pancreatic nodes

The inferior pancreatic nodes are part of the large group of nodes that surround the pancreas. They lie along the lower margin of the head and body of the gland, close to the root of the transverse mesocolon, and they often follow the inferior pancreatic artery, a branch that runs to the left along the lower border of the body and tail of the pancreas.

The pancreas lies behind the stomach across the posterior abdominal wall, so these nodes sit deep in the upper abdomen, near the point where the superior mesenteric vessels emerge from under the neck of the gland. Their counterparts, the superior pancreatic nodes, line the upper border along the splenic artery, and further nodes cluster around the head of the gland in front of and behind it.

Lymph flows into them from the lower parts of the pancreatic head and body. From here it moves mainly to the superior mesenteric nodes around the origin of the superior mesenteric artery, and some passes to the nodes beside the aorta. All of it reaches the intestinal trunk and then the cisterna chyli, so these nodes are a short, early step on the route from the pancreas to the thoracic duct.

Pancreatic cancer spreads early through its lymphatic vessels, and the nodes along both borders of the gland are among the first it reaches. Their condition is part of staging and helps guide the extent of surgery, such as a pancreatoduodenectomy or a distal pancreatectomy with removal of the surrounding nodes. Inflammation of the pancreas can also make them swell on scans.

Course and drainage

Begins at

Afferent vessels from the lower parts of the head and body of the pancreas.

Drains into

Efferent vessels run mainly to the superior mesenteric nodes, with some to the para-aortic nodes, and so on to the intestinal trunk.

Drains

Filters lymph from the lower half of the pancreas. They are an early station for pancreatic cancer, so their involvement affects staging and how widely nodes are cleared at surgery.