Anatomy study note · Abdomen

Inferior mesenteric artery

The artery of the hindgut. It arises from the aorta about 3.8 cm above its bifurcation, runs down and to the left, and becomes the superior rectal artery as it crosses the left common iliac artery.

Key points

• Hindgut artery; from the aorta ~3.8 cm above its bifurcation.
• Branches: left colic, sigmoid, superior rectal.
• Territory: distal 1/3 transverse colon → mid anal canal.
• Marginal artery connects it to the SMA.
• IMA: artery of the hindgut.
• Artery: intima / media (smooth muscle) / adventitia.
• Most named arteries are muscular; aorta is elastic.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Branches · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 895–896
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 13, PDF pp. 175, 184; ch. 16, PDF p. 283
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199

More from the abdomen

• Inferior vena cava
• Inguinal ligament
• Internal oblique
• Jejunum and ileum
• Kidney
• Large intestine
• Linea alba
• Liver
• Lumbar plexus
• Pancreas
• Peritoneum
• Portal vein

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