Right colic artery
Branch · detail
Inconstant branch from the right side of the SMA — absent in about 9% and arising from the ileocolic or middle colic in most of the rest — running retroperitoneally to the ascending colon and splitting into ascending and descending branches that join the marginal artery.
Traced from the start
- Abdominal aorta
- Superior mesenteric artery
- Right colic artery
Detail
- Supplies
- Ascending colon
- Origin
- Directly from SMA ~37%, ileocolic ~32%, middle colic ~28%, absent ~9%
- Course
- Retroperitoneal, crossing the right ureter and gonadal vessels
When it goes wrong
Retroperitoneal course crosses the right ureter and gonadal vessels
Both at risk during mobilisation of the right colon; the ascending colon survives on ileocolic and middle colic flow through the marginal artery
Practise this structure
1 question in the bank tagged Large Bowel.