Inferior mesenteric vein at a glance
- What it is
- The inferior mesenteric vein drains the hindgut.
- Location
- It begins as the superior rectal vein, ascends to the left of the inferior mesenteric artery and usually drains into the splenic vein (sometimes the superior mesenteric vein or their junction).
- Function
- It drains the left colon, sigmoid colon and upper rectum.
- Body system
- Cardiovascular · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA15391 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Its tributaries are the left colic, sigmoid and superior rectal veins.
Structures next to the inferior mesenteric vein
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Superior mesenteric artery · cardiovascular
- Superior mesenteric vein · cardiovascular
- Ileocolic artery · cardiovascular
- Marginal artery of colon · cardiovascular
- Transverse mesocolon · digestive
- Ascending lumbar vein · cardiovascular
- Ileocolic vein · cardiovascular
- Taenia mesocolica · digestive
- Intervertebral disk of third lumbar vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of second lumbar vertebra · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Inferior mesenteric vein (FMA15391). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. 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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