Right gastro-omental vein

At a glance

English

Right gastro-omental vein

Latin (TA2)

Vena gastroomentalis dextra

System

Vein

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the right gastro-omental vein

Known also as the right gastroepiploic vein, this vessel drains the right half of the stomach's greater curvature, the adjoining body and pyloric region, and the greater omentum hanging from it. It empties into the superior mesenteric vein and so belongs to the hepatic portal system: its blood reaches the liver before it returns to the heart.

Its course mirrors that of the left gastro-omental vein, but in the opposite direction. It lies between the anterior and posterior layers of the greater omentum, a little below the greater curvature, and travels from left to right towards the pylorus. Along the way it receives gastric veins from both the anterior and posterior surfaces of the stomach and omental veins from below. At its left end it is usually continuous with the left gastro-omental vein, so that the two form an unbroken venous arch along the curvature. It accompanies the right gastro-omental artery, a branch of the gastroduodenal artery.

Near the pylorus it turns downwards and backwards, in front of the head of the pancreas, and ends in the superior mesenteric vein just below the neck of the pancreas. In many people it first joins a short common trunk, the gastrocolic trunk of Henle, together with the right colic or middle colic vein and a pancreaticoduodenal vein, and that trunk then enters the superior mesenteric vein.

The vein is relevant in several operations. It is divided when the greater curvature is mobilised in gastric resections and in removal of the stomach for cancer, where the lymph nodes along it are taken too. It is a landmark for finding the superior mesenteric vein during pancreatic surgery, and Henle's trunk must be handled gently there because it tears easily. Its companion artery is also sometimes used as a graft for coronary bypass, which requires careful separation from the vein.

Course and drainage

Begins at

Begins along the stomach's greater curvature, often continuous with the left gastro-omental vein, from gastric and omental tributaries.

Drains into

Runs from left to right to the pylorus and then passes in front of the pancreatic head to open into the superior mesenteric vein, often via the gastrocolic trunk.

Drains

Drains the right part of the greater curvature, nearby parts of both surfaces of the stomach, and the greater omentum into the portal system.