Lateral caval nodes

At a glance

English

Lateral caval nodes

Latin (TA2)

Nodi cavales latérales

System

Lymphatic

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the lateral caval nodes

The right lumbar nodes surround the inferior vena cava. They are named by their relation to the vein: precaval nodes in front, retrocaval nodes behind, and lateral caval nodes along its right side. This page covers the lateral group, which forms a chain along the right edge of the vena cava from the level of the renal veins down towards the confluence of the common iliac veins.

The chain lies behind the peritoneum on the right psoas major and the right crus of the diaphragm, with the right sympathetic trunk deep to it. The right ureter runs down just lateral to it, the right renal vessels cross it higher up, and the second part of the duodenum and the head of the pancreas lie in front of its upper end.

Its lymph comes from the right common iliac nodes below and, directly, from the right kidney, right suprarenal gland, right ureter and the deep muscles of the posterior abdominal wall. Its efferents join those of the other right lumbar nodes to form the right lumbar trunk, which runs up to the cisterna chyli.

Enlarged nodes here are seen on scans in lymphoma and in spread of cancers of the right kidney or of pelvic organs once the iliac nodes are involved. Because they hug the wall of the vena cava, removing them in a retroperitoneal dissection calls for careful work around the vein and its lumbar tributaries.

Course and drainage

Begins at

Efferent vessels of the right common iliac nodes, and direct vessels from the right kidney, right suprarenal gland, right ureter and posterior abdominal wall.

Drains into

Efferent vessels join the right lumbar trunk, which ends in the cisterna chyli.

Drains

Collects lymph from the right side of the posterior abdomen and, at second hand, from the pelvis and right lower limb. They are examined in staging right renal and pelvic cancers and in lymphoma.