Middle colic artery
Sub-branch · Transverse colon Griffiths' point
Arises from the SMA just below the pancreas and enters the transverse mesocolon, dividing into right and left branches that join the marginal artery. Supplies the transverse colon and links the SMA to the IMA at the splenic flexure.
Traced from the start
- Abdominal aorta
- Superior mesenteric artery
- Middle colic artery
Detail
- Supplies
- Proximal two-thirds of the transverse colon
- Anastomoses
- Right branch with the right colic; left branch with the ascending left colic at the splenic flexure (Griffiths' point)
- Relations
- Runs in the transverse mesocolon, at risk when the greater omentum is taken off the colon in gastric surgery
When it goes wrong
Hypotension or SMA embolus when the anastomosis at Griffiths' point is poor or absent (about 40% of people)
Ischaemic colitis of the splenic flexure, the commonest watershed site: left-sided pain, bloody diarrhoea, mucosal oedema
Embolus lodging just distal to the middle colic origin
Transverse colon is spared while jejunum to right colon infarcts, the classic pattern of SMA embolism
Practise this structure
1 question in the bank tagged Large Bowel.