Inferior suprarenal artery
Arteria suprarenalis inferior
A paired small artery, usually from the renal artery, that climbs to the lower part of the suprarenal (adrenal) gland on each side.
At a glance
- English
- Inferior suprarenal artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Arteria suprarenalis inferior
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the inferior suprarenal artery
Each suprarenal gland, the small endocrine cap on the upper pole of the kidney, is fed by three groups of arteries: superior ones from the inferior phrenic artery, a middle one from the aorta and an inferior one from the renal artery. The lowest of these is the inferior suprarenal artery. It is paired, one serving each gland.
Typically it leaves the upper border of the main renal artery while that vessel is still a single trunk, before it splits into its segmental branches near the hilum. From there it runs upwards behind the peritoneum into the lower and medial part of the gland and breaks up within its tissue. Small twigs also reach the upper ureter, the perirenal fat and the neighbouring muscle of the posterior abdominal wall.
Its origin is one of the most changeable in the abdomen. Besides the usual trunk origin, it may arise from one of the renal artery's final branches or beyond them, from an accessory renal artery or, less often, straight from the aorta. Some people have up to three of these lower vessels on a side, and it may send a small twig into the kidney. Its calibre also changes noticeably over a lifetime. Within the gland its branches join those of the other two suprarenal arteries in a capsular network that feeds both cortex and medulla.
The vessel is small, so it is rarely significant on its own, but it can develop an aneurysm, and it must be identified when the gland is removed (adrenalectomy) or when the kidney is operated on near its upper pole. Because the gland has three separate sources, loss of one of them seldom harms the gland. Its veins do not follow the arteries: each gland drains by a single suprarenal vein.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Usually from the upper border of the renal artery trunk before it divides; sometimes from a renal branch, an accessory renal artery or the aorta.
- Ends in
- Ends within the lower and medial part of the suprarenal gland, joining the superior and middle suprarenal arteries in the capsular network.
- Supplies
- Supplies the lower part of the suprarenal gland, with small twigs to the upper ureter, perirenal fat and nearby muscle.
Anthromica
See the inferior suprarenal 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.
