Transverse colon at a glance
- What it is
- The transverse colon is the part of the large intestine that crosses the abdomen between the right and left colic flexures.
- Location
- It lies intraperitoneally in the upper abdomen, suspended by the transverse mesocolon, and hangs below the greater curvature of the stomach.
- Function
- It absorbs water and electrolytes and moves feces toward the left side.
- Body system
- Digestive · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA14546 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- It is the longest (about 45 cm) and most mobile part of the colon.
- Proximal two-thirds are supplied by the superior mesenteric artery (middle colic) and distal third by the inferior mesenteric artery (left colic).
- The splenic flexure is a watershed between the two territories, so it is prone to ischemic colitis.
Structures next to the transverse colon
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Middle colic artery · cardiovascular
- Middle colic vein · cardiovascular
- Inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Duodenum · digestive
- Posterior inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Pancreas · digestive
- Marginal artery of colon · cardiovascular
- Pancreatic duct · digestive
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Transverse colon (FMA14546). 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.
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.