Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)
Lumbar veins
Venae lumbales (I-IV)
- Origin
- Arise from the posterior abdominal wall and vertebral venous plexuses
- Insertion
- Drain into the posterior aspect of the IVC (3rd and 4th pairs) and communicate longitudinally with the ascending lumbar veins
- Function
- Drains the lumbar muscles, vertebral column, and spinal cord to the IVC and azygos system
- Innervation
- Vasomotor sympathetic fibers
- Movement & chain
- Valveless venous conduction
- Palpation
- Not palpated directly
- Clinical
- Batson's valveless venous plexus links lumbar veins to pelvic and cranial veins, providing a retrograde route for prostate cancer metastasis to the spine and brain without pulmonary filtration.
- Segmental innervation
- L1-L4 levels
- In clinical practice
- Spinal MRI surveillance for metastatic compression in prostate cancer patients presenting with new back pain
- Region in the model
- Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)