Anatomy study note · Abdomen

Large intestine

The large intestine runs from the ileum to the anus: caecum, appendix, ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid colon, rectum and anal canal. It absorbs water and electrolytes and stores faeces.

Key points

• Teniae coli, haustra, appendices epiploicae = large bowel.
• No villi, no plicae, no Peyer patches.
• Marginal artery links SMA and IMA territories.
• Diverticula form where vessels pierce the muscle.
• Midgut to the right ⅔ transverse colon; hindgut beyond.
• Colon: no villi, many goblet cells.
• Outer longitudinal muscle → teniae coli → haustra.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Blood supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 860–861, 871–878, 895–896
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 13, PDF p. 179
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 16, PDF pp. 296–297

More from the abdomen

• Linea alba
• Liver
• Lumbar plexus
• Pancreas
• Peritoneum
• Portal vein
• Psoas major
• Pyramidalis
• Quadratus lumborum
• Rectus abdominis
• Renal arteries and veins
• Spleen

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