Jejunal and ileal arteries
Sub-branch · detail · 12–15 branches Arcades, vasa recta
Twelve to fifteen branches from the left side of the SMA that run in the mesentery, forming arterial arcades from which straight vasa recta pass to the bowel wall. The jejunum has few large arcades with long vasa recta; the ileum has many short arcades with short vasa recta.
Traced from the start
- Abdominal aorta
- Superior mesenteric artery
- Jejunal and ileal arteries
Detail
- Supplies
- Jejunum and ileum
- Pattern
- Jejunum: 1–2 arcades, long vasa recta; ileum: 4–5 arcades, short vasa recta
When it goes wrong
Mesentery twisted or torn around a fixed point (volvulus, internal hernia, adhesion band)
Small-bowel infarction; the vasa recta are end arteries at the antimesenteric border, so that border necroses and perforates first
Practise this structure
1 question in the bank tagged Small Bowel.