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Sigmoid artery: anatomy, location and function

Branches of the inferior mesenteric artery to the sigmoid colon. They supply the sigmoid colon.

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Highlighted in the model: Sigmoid artery. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Sigmoid artery at a glance

What it is
Branches of the inferior mesenteric artery to the sigmoid colon.
Location
Two to three arteries arise from the inferior mesenteric artery or left colic artery, run in the sigmoid mesocolon and anastomose with the superior rectal artery.
Function
They supply the sigmoid colon.
Body system
Cardiovascular · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA14830 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The lowest sigmoid artery and the superior rectal artery are linked only weakly, a watershed sometimes called Sudeck's point.

Structures next to the sigmoid artery

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Sigmoid artery (FMA14830). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. 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.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.