Anatomy study note · Abdomen

Superior mesenteric artery

The artery of the midgut. It arises from the aorta just below the coeliac trunk, passes behind the neck of the pancreas and in front of the third part of the duodenum, and runs in the mesentery to the right iliac fossa.

Key points

• Midgut artery; behind the pancreatic neck, in front of D3.
• Branches: inferior pancreaticoduodenal, middle colic, right colic, ileocolic, jejunal/ileal.
• Appendicular artery ← posterior caecal ← ileocolic.
• Territory: mid-D2 → distal third of the transverse colon.
• SMA: artery of the midgut; axis of rotation.
• 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 · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 860, 894–896
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 13, PDF pp. 175, 184–186
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199

More from the abdomen

• Suprarenal gland
• Testicular vessels
• Testis
• Transverse colon
• Transversus abdominis
• Umbilical cord
• Ureter
• Vas deferens
• Abdominal aorta
• Abdominal lymph nodes
• Appendix
• Ascending colon

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