Vascular anatomy

Objective 1: The anatomy of the bowel wall and vascular supply

• The ileocolic anastomosis is reliant upon the superior mesenteric artery and its branches to both the ileum and the colon
• The right colic artery can be a branch of ileocolic artery or be absent, and may be compromised by the right colon or ileocaecal resection
• The blood supply to the ileocolic anastomosis is therefore likely to be reliant upon the middle colic artery

For this reason it is important to check arterial flow at outermost limit of the colonic pole after resection.

This is especially true if the ascending colon is to be preserved, for example in a Crohn’s resection or for a caecal tumour

An overview of the arterial blood supply of the colon: