Right colic artery

Right colic artery
The superior mesenteric artery and its branches. (Right colic visible at center.)
Colonic blood supply (right colic artery is #4)
Details
Source	Superior mesenteric artery
Vein	Right colic vein
Supplies	Ascending colon
Identifiers
Latin	Arteria colica dextra
TA98	A12.2.12.065
TA2	4264
FMA	14811
Anatomical terminology

The right colic artery arises from about the middle of the concavity of the superior mesenteric artery, or from a stem common to it and the ileocolic.

It passes to the right behind the peritoneum, and in front of the right internal spermatic or ovarian vessels, the right ureter and the Psoas major, toward the middle of the ascending colon; sometimes the vessel lies at a higher level, and crosses the descending part of the duodenum and the lower end of the right kidney.

At the colon it divides into a descending branch, which anastomoses with the ileocolic, and an ascending branch, which anastomoses with the middle colic.

These branches form arches, from the convexity of which vessels are distributed to the ascending colon.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 609 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links

• Anatomy figure: 39:01-04 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "Branches of the superior mesenteric artery."
• Anatomy photo:39:03-0102 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "Intestines and Pancreas: Branches of Superior Mesenteric Artery"
• Anatomy image:8580 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• largeintestine at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)
• sup&infmesentericart at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)