Pancreatic duct at a glance
- What it is
- The main pancreatic duct (of Wirsung) collects pancreatic juice from the gland and carries it to the duodenum.
- Location
- It runs the length of the pancreas from tail to head, usually joining the bile duct at the hepatopancreatic ampulla (of Vater) opening at the major duodenal papilla.
- Function
- It delivers digestive enzymes and bicarbonate-rich fluid into the duodenum.
- Body system
- Digestive · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA10419 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- The sphincter of Oddi controls the ampulla's opening.
- An accessory pancreatic duct (of Santorini) opens at the minor papilla.
Clinical relevance
Gallstones lodged at the ampulla can cause acute pancreatitis.
Structures next to the pancreatic duct
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Pancreas · digestive
- Abdominal aorta · cardiovascular
- Renal artery · cardiovascular
- Duodenum · digestive
- Posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Posterior inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Intervertebral disk of first lumbar vertebra · skeletal
- Middle colic vein · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Pancreatic duct (FMA10419). 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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