Viscera (heart, lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract)
Descending colon
Colon descendens
- Origin
- Begins at the splenic flexure in the left hypochondrium
- Insertion
- Descends retroperitoneally through the left flank into the left iliac fossa, transitioning into the sigmoid colon
- Function
- Stores and transports solid fecal matter while completing water and electrolyte resorption
- Innervation
- Inferior mesenteric plexus (sympathetic L1-L2, parasympathetic pelvic splanchnic nerves S2-S4)
- Movement & chain
- Haustral segmentation and propulsive mass peristalsis
- Palpation
- Palpable as a firm cylindrical tube in the left iliac fossa
- Clinical
- Left-sided colon cancer ('apple-core' circumferential narrowing presenting with bowel habit changes and obstruction), diverticulitis, ischemic colitis at Griffiths' point (watershed area at splenic flexure).
- Segmental innervation
- L1-L2 and S2-S4 cord levels
- In clinical practice
- Investigating altered bowel habits and pencil-thin stools, enema administration, high-fiber dietary counseling for diverticular disease
- Region in the model
- Viscera (heart, lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract)