Inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery
Arteria pancreaticoduodenalis
A small early offshoot of the superior mesenteric artery that curves round the pancreatic head to supply it and the lower duodenum.
At a glance
- English
- Inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Arteria pancreaticoduodenalis
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery
The inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery is usually the first vessel to leave the superior mesenteric artery, doing so close to the upper border of the third, horizontal part of the duodenum. In some people it comes instead from the first jejunal branch, or from a short trunk shared with it.
Almost at once it forks into a front and a back branch. The two climb to the right in the groove where the pancreatic head meets the concave inner curve of the duodenal loop, one in front of the pancreatic head and one behind it. As they ascend they give twigs into the pancreas and into the wall of the duodenum, and finally they join the anterior and posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal arteries coming down from the gastroduodenal artery.
The two pairs of vessels form arterial arcades round the pancreatic head. These arcades link the coeliac trunk above with the superior mesenteric artery below, so they can carry a large flow if either main trunk is narrowed. That extra flow is one reason the arcades can enlarge and become aneurysmal when the coeliac trunk is compressed or blocked. The field of the inferior vessel is mainly the head and uncinate process of the pancreas and the third and fourth parts of the duodenum.
Aneurysms of this artery are rare. They may follow trauma, pancreatitis, inflammation of the gallbladder, vasculitis, infection or medical procedures. When one ruptures it causes abdominal pain and internal bleeding with a fall in blood pressure. Treatment may be endovascular, for example by placing coils, or by open surgery; false aneurysms can also form after pancreatic inflammation. Surgeons must also deal with these arcades during removal of the pancreatic head.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Normally the superior mesenteric artery's first branch, near the upper border of the third part of the duodenum; sometimes from the first jejunal artery.
- Ends in
- Forks into front and back branches that join the corresponding superior pancreaticoduodenal arteries round the pancreatic head.
- Supplies
- Supplies the head and uncinate process of the pancreas and the descending, horizontal and ascending parts of the duodenum.
Anthromica
See the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery 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.
