Common hepatic artery
Sub-branch · Gastroduodenal a. Proper hepatic a.
Passes right along the upper border of the pancreas to the first part of the duodenum, where it gives off the gastroduodenal artery and continues as the proper hepatic artery in the free edge of the lesser omentum (left of the bile duct, in front of the portal vein) to the porta hepatis.
Traced from the start
- Abdominal aorta
- Coeliac trunk
- Common hepatic artery
Detail
- Branches
- Gastroduodenal (→ right gastro-omental, superior pancreaticoduodenal); proper hepatic (→ right gastric, right and left hepatic; cystic artery usually from the right hepatic)
- Supplies
- Liver, gallbladder, stomach (both curvatures), duodenum and head of pancreas
- Collaterals
- Superior pancreaticoduodenal anastomoses with the inferior pancreaticoduodenal from the SMA
When it goes wrong
Posterior duodenal ulcer (first part) eroding through the wall
Torrential haematemesis and melaena from the gastroduodenal artery lying directly behind the duodenal bulb; endoscopic clipping or embolisation
Pringle manoeuvre (clamping the free edge of the lesser omentum)
Occludes the hepatic artery and portal vein together and arrests inflow bleeding from the liver; continued bleeding points to a hepatic vein or IVC source
Dissection of Calot's triangle at cholecystectomy
The cystic artery is found here, usually from the right hepatic; a replaced right hepatic artery from the SMA (about 15%) runs behind the bile duct and is at risk
Practise this structure
1 question in the bank tagged Mesenteric Arterial Supply.