Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)
Inferior mesenteric artery
Arteria mesenterica inferior
- Origin
- Arises from the anterolateral abdominal aorta at the L3 level (~3-4 cm above the aortic bifurcation)
- Insertion
- Gives off the left colic artery, sigmoid arteries, and terminates as the superior rectal artery
- Function
- Supplies hindgut structures: distal third of the transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, and upper rectum
- Innervation
- Inferior mesenteric plexus
- Movement & chain
- Arterial pulsatile flow
- Palpation
- Not palpated directly
- Clinical
- Ischemic colitis (transient hypoperfusion leading to left-sided abdominal pain and hematochezia, especially at Griffiths' and Sudeck's watershed points).
- Segmental innervation
- L1-L2 and S2-S4 spinal segments
- In clinical practice
- Recognizing signs of ischemic colitis post-aortic surgery or systemic hypotension, managing fluid resuscitation and antibiotics
- Region in the model
- Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)