Posterior branch of renal artery
Ramus posterior arteriae renalis
The smaller of the two primary divisions of the renal artery, passing behind the renal pelvis to supply the back of the kidney.
At a glance
- English
- Posterior branch of renal artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Ramus posterior arteriae renalis
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the posterior branch of renal artery
Near the hilum of the kidney, each renal artery divides into two main stems. The larger anterior branch passes in front of the renal pelvis and gives four segmental arteries for the front of the kidney and its poles. The posterior branch is the smaller division and runs behind the pelvis. In most kidneys it continues as a single posterior segmental artery, sometimes called the retropelvic artery.
At the hilum the usual order of structures from front to back is renal vein, then the anterior arterial branches, then the pelvis and ureter, and behind the pelvis the posterior branch. It usually leaves the main artery before the anterior branch splits further, and it may give the apical segmental artery or a twig to the upper pole. It then turns behind the upper part of the renal pelvis and enters the renal sinus.
Inside the sinus it breaks into interlobar arteries that pass between the renal pyramids towards the cortex. These turn into arcuate arteries along the bases of the pyramids, then interlobular arteries in the cortex, which give the afferent arterioles of the glomeruli. Its territory is the posterior segment, the middle part of the kidney's back surface, which lies between the upper and lower poles.
Segmental arteries do not join one another, so blocking the posterior branch causes a wedge of tissue loss limited to its segment. Between the posterior segment and the anterior segments lies a relatively bloodless plane a little behind the lateral border of the kidney. Surgeons use this line to open the kidney, for example to remove stones, with the least bleeding. The branch is also at risk when instruments are passed into the pelvis from behind, as in percutaneous stone surgery, because it crosses the back of the upper pelvis.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Arises from the renal artery near the hilum as its posterior primary division.
- Ends in
- Continues as the posterior segmental artery, which divides into interlobar arteries within the renal sinus.
- Supplies
- Supplies the posterior segment of the kidney, the middle part of its posterior surface.
Anthromica
See the posterior branch of renal 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.
