Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)
Superior mesenteric artery
Arteria mesenterica superior
- Origin
- Arises from the anterior abdominal aorta at the L1 level (~1 cm inferior to the celiac trunk)
- Insertion
- Emerges behind the pancreatic neck, crosses anteriorly over the third part of the duodenum, and enters the mesentery
- Function
- Supplies midgut derivatives from the major duodenal papilla to the proximal two-thirds of the transverse colon
- Innervation
- Superior mesenteric plexus
- Movement & chain
- Postprandial flow modulation
- Palpation
- Not palpated directly
- Clinical
- Acute mesenteric ischemia (most often embolic SMA occlusion in atrial fibrillation; classic 'pain out of proportion to exam', carries high mortality if not rapidly revascularized), chronic mesenteric angina, SMA syndrome.
- Segmental innervation
- T9-T11 spinal cord segments
- In clinical practice
- Emergency triaging of unexplained severe postprandial abdominal pain in cardiac patients, urgent CTA abdomen ordering, embolectomy nursing support
- Region in the model
- Trunk vessels (aorta, vena cava, abdominal branches)