Anatomy study note · Abdomen

Portal vein

The vein draining the abdominal gut (lower oesophagus to mid anal canal), spleen, pancreas and gallbladder into the liver. About 5 cm long, it forms behind the neck of the pancreas from the superior mesenteric and splenic veins.

Key points

• SMV + splenic vein behind the pancreatic neck.
• IMV → splenic vein.
• Behind the bile duct and hepatic artery in the lesser omentum.
• Carries 70% of liver blood.
• Anastomoses: oesophagus, anal canal, umbilicus, retroperitoneum.
• Portal vein: vitelline veins + dorsal anastomosis.
• Ductus venosus → ligamentum venosum.
• Vein: thin wall, adventitia thickest, valves.
• Veins hold ~70% of the blood.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Course · Tributaries · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 897–902, 959–960
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 260–262, 275
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 203–205

More from the abdomen

• Psoas major
• Pyramidalis
• Quadratus lumborum
• Rectus abdominis
• Renal arteries and veins
• Spleen
• Stomach
• Superficial epigastric vessels
• Superior mesenteric artery
• Suprarenal gland
• Testicular vessels
• Testis

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