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Today we are going to discuss the gross anatomy of the spleen which is a wedge shaped structure
present in the left hypochondria with the left kidney below it. This is the left kidney,
this is the duodenum, first part, second part, third part. in the concavity of the duodenum,
there is the head of the pancreas, this is the neck of the pancreas, and then this is
the body of the pancreas which terminates at the hilum of the left kidney. From the
hilum of the left kidney begins the tail of the pancreas that will extend to the hilum
of the spleen through peritoneal ligament that connect them which is called the lienorenal
ligament and with the pancreas inside the ligament pass the splenic vessels. So it is
a wedge shaped structure with the left kidney below it and the tail of the pancreas goes
to its hilum. And above all of them anterior to all of them, there is the stomach. So the
spleen above its hilum is related to the stomach. Of course anterior to the pancreas there was
the transverse colon that goes until the anterior end of the spleen and descends down as the
descending colon. So the transverse colon as the anterior end of the spleen forms the
splenic flexure and descends down as the descending colon that descends in front of the left kidney.
The outer surface of the spleen is convex and when we take the spleen out of its position
will find this convex surface which is called the diaphragmatic surface and this diaphragmatic
surface is related to the diaphragm with the rips number nine, ten and eleven related to
it outside the diaphragm. So this surface is called the diaphragmatic surface and we
can call it also costal surface because it is covered by the diaphragm. When we look
at the other surface. The other surface is called the visceral surface, it has a narrow
posterior end which is more or less medial and a wide anterior end which is also called
the lateral end. The upper border is sharp and usually it shown notches and the lower
border is rounded and shown no notches. So when we take the spleen from its position
will find the diaphragmatic surface, the anterior wide end and the posterior wide end, the upper
sharp notched border and the hilum which has an impression in its anterior part related
to the tails of the pancreas. Above the hilum there is a wide impression which is for the
stomach this is called the gastric impression. And below the hilum there is a medium sized
impression for the left kidney and anterior to the hilum there is a flat area which is
relate to the colic flexure. So the structure related to the medial side of the spleen which
is called the visceral surface are, at the anterior part of the hilum, there is the tails
of the pancreas going to the spleen through the lienorenal ligament. Above the hilum we
have a wide impression for the stomach and below the hilum we have a medium sized impression
for the left kidney and anterior to the hilum there is a flat area that is related to the
left colic flexure. When we take another spleen because the spleen has different shapes, this
is the diaphragmatic surface, this is the upper border which shows the notches, and
this is the lower border which is not notched. The anterior part of the hilum as we agreed
is related to the pancreas. Above the hilum there is the gastric impression and below
the hilum it is related to the left kidney, and anterior to the hilum we have an impression
for the left colic flexure. This is another shape of the spleen