Intestinal trunk

Lymphatic trunks · Chyle

A single midline trunk carries lymph from the whole gut, liver, spleen and pancreas into the cisterna chyli; after a fatty meal it is loaded with chylomicrons and the lymph is called chyle.

Traced from the start

  1. Gut and abdominal viscera
  2. Preaortic nodes (coeliac, superior and inferior mesenteric)
  3. Intestinal trunk

Detail

Carries
Chyle, chylomicron-rich lymph
Fat load
Up to about 100 g of dietary fat per day
Route of absorbed fat
Lacteal to thoracic duct to blood, bypassing the portal vein and first-pass hepatic metabolism
Ends in
Cisterna chyli or directly into the thoracic duct

When it goes wrong

Feeding medium-chain triglycerides

Fat absorbed straight into the portal vein, cutting chyle flow, which is the basis of chylothorax diet therapy

Practise this structure

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