hi let's talk about the blood supply to the pancreas and duodenum
otherwise known as the anastomosis between the celiac and superior mesenteric artery
in this video we'll discuss the vascular supply of the duodenum and pancreas and describe in
detail the collateral blood flow between the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric arteries
when we think of the blood supply to the duodenum this is also going to be the blood supply to the
head and neck of the pancreas and there will be two major sources for this the celiac trunk
specifically the gastro-duodenal branch of the common hepatic artery as well as the
superior mesenteric artery so let's walk through these connections but before we do i'd like to
look at this schematically so down here in the lower corner here is our gastroduodenal artery
the gastroduodenal artery has several branches but specifically pertaining to this region
it's going to give off a posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal and an anterior superior
pancreaticoduodenal these branches are going to supply the duodenum and the head and
neck of the pancreas with blood their counterparts are going to come from a branch of the sma known
as the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery this is going to divide into anterior and posterior
branches which will anastomose with the anterior posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal arteries
so this will provide a very rich framework of blood to the head and neck of the pancreas as well
as the duodenum so let's let's follow this pathway here so from the celiac trunk we have the common
hepatic artery the gastroduodenal artery that gastroduodenal artery gives off the posterior
superior pancreaticoduodenal artery as well as the anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery
we can see that the sma gives off the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery there with
an anterior branch which anastomosis with the anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery
and a posterior branch which anastomosis with the posterior superior pancreatic artery in addition
here some branches from jejunal arteries in this region can supply blood to both the duodenum as
well as the pancreas but you're really going to want to burn these relationships into your mind
moving medially from the the duodenum and the the head of the pancreas we can look at the blood
supply to the body and tail of the pancreas which is quite extensive again i would say let's look at
the schematic and let's start with the splenic artery which is a branch of the celiac trunk
my favorite and most robust branch so here we have a very torturous splenic artery
that splenic artery is running adjacent to the pancreas and sometimes it will run through the
the tissues of the pancreas and it's going to give off three important branches the first being the
dorsal pancreatic artery that dorsal pancreatic artery is going to transition into the inferior
pancreatic artery which runs the length of the pancreas the next branch is known as the greater
or the great pancreatic artery it's somewhat of a misnomer because it tends to be smaller than
the dorsal pancreatic artery and then finally there are arteries to the tail of the pancreas
or sometimes caudal pancreatic arteries and these can all have the the possibility of
anastomosing with one another and they may also anastomose with the arteries that are involved
in the supply of blood to the head and neck of the pancreas as well as the duodenum or those
pancreaticoduodenal arteries so let's look at uh at this scheme so here is the splenic artery
and see this very nice torturous artery here there is our dorsal pancreatic artery and it is
continuing on as the inferior pancreatic artery which is running the length of the pancreas there
there's the greater pancreatic artery and that's anastomosing and then we have the
arteries to the tail of the pancreas which is also anastomosing with that inferior pancreatic artery
and here we can see that there is an anastomosis between those pancreaticoduodenals and the
the inferior or dorsal pancreatic artery as well
and then finally let's not forget about those jejunal arteries which can supply both the the
pancreas and the duodenum with blood so two major sources ultimately the celiac trunk and
the superior mesenteric artery so the celiac trunk is the dominant source of blood to derivatives of
the embryonic foregut the superior mesenteric artery is the dominant source of blood to the
derivatives of the embryonic mid-gut and so as we have both foregut and mid-gut viscera present
it's natural for there to be anastomosis between these vessels which serve them so
we've discussed the the various branches of the celiac and superior mesenteric arteries
which serve the pancreas and duodenum this is your summary slide i thank you for your time