Common hepatic duct at a glance
- What it is
- The common hepatic duct is formed by the union of the right and left hepatic ducts and carries bile out of the liver.
- Location
- It runs down in the free edge of the lesser omentum (hepatoduodenal ligament), to the right of the hepatic artery and anterior to the portal vein. It is about 3 cm long (range 2 to 4 cm).
- Function
- It conducts bile from the liver and joins the cystic duct to form the bile duct (common bile duct).
- Body system
- Digestive · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA14668 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- It is lined by columnar epithelium.
- Its junction with the cystic duct forms the common bile duct.
Clinical relevance
Injury to the common hepatic duct or bile ducts is a recognised complication of cholecystectomy.
Structures next to the common hepatic duct
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Inferior vena cava · cardiovascular
- Cystic duct · digestive
- Renal artery · cardiovascular
- Trunk of gastroduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Splenic vein · cardiovascular
- Pancreas · digestive
- Splenic artery · cardiovascular
- Pancreatic duct · digestive
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Common hepatic duct (FMA14668). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §23.1 Overview of the Digestive System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
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