hi let's discuss the peritoneum the peritoneum is a serous membrane which lines the abdominal
pelvic cavity and the viscera contained within the abdominal pelvic cavity now much like other serous
membranes there are two distinct components to the peritoneum there's the parietal peritoneum
which is lining the walls of the abdominal pelvic cavity and then the visceral peritoneum which is
surrounding the organs of digestion and other organs within the abdominal pelvic cavity so
that visceral peritoneum is the same thing as the serous layer of the abdominal wall now organs may
either be intraperitoneal or retroperitoneal intraperitoneal organs are seemingly suspended
in the peritoneal cavity but they don't occupy that space that space is strictly the space
between the parietal and visceral peritoneum but they may be seen or they may be ostensibly
observed as hanging within that abdominal pelvic space whereas retroperitoneal organs are in the
retroperitoneal space so they are posterior to the body wall now organs which are retroperitoneal are
either primary retroperitoneal or secondarily retroperitoneal primary retroperitoneal organs
are those which develop and exist within the retroperitoneal space such as the abdominal
aorta the inferior vena cava kidneys ureters super anal glands secondary retroperitoneal organs are
those which have evolved intraperitoneal ii and have secondarily moved into the retroperitoneal
space such as the a sending and descending colons the second third and fourth parts of the duodenum
the pancreas would be secondarily retroperitoneal now there are elaborations of the peritoneum that
we can observe within the abdominal pelvic cavity so mesenteries are extensions of the parietal
peritoneum reaching out to contact the visceral peritoneum what's important about these
mesenteries is that they represent opportunities for neurovasculature to be conducted from
the body wall to the viscera and these mesenteries may take the form of elaborations of
omenta which are double and sometimes quadruple sheets of mesentery or we may see ligaments or
peritoneal ligaments which are extensions of the peritoneum which help to anchor organs sometimes
to other organs sometimes to the body wall now one of the more significant structures of the
peritoneum is the greater omentum the greater omentum is derived from the dorsal mesentery so
this would be the dorsal mesentery connecting the gut tube to the body wall and the elements of the
greater omentum attach the greater curvature of the stomach here to different parts of the
abdominal wall so there are three major divisions of the greater omentum there's the gastro phrenic
ligament the gastro phrenic ligament you can't see here but it connects that greater curvature
up to the diaphragm hence phrenic part of gastro phrenic there's also the gastro splenic ligament
which connects the greater curvature of the stomach to the spleen which you can see here and
then the largest portion of the greater omentum is known as the gastrocolic ligament also known
as the omental apron because it hangs from the greater curvature of the stomach down over the
abdominal viscera and then it curves back unto itself up to the transverse colon so gastrocolic
from the greater curvature of the stomach to the transverse colon and it's a quadruple ligament
these other are just double the ligaments it's a quadruple ligament because you have the membrane
going down and then ascending back upon itself the lesser omentum is derived from the ventral
mesentery and it's in association with the lesser curvature of the stomach and it helps
to connect the lesser curvature of the stomach and related portions of the gut tube to the liver
there are two major parts to the lesser omentum or constituents the first is a membranous Sheet known
as the hepatic gastric ligament which runs between the liver and the lesser curvature of the stomach
and then there's the padded waddle ligament which you can see here which is running between the
liver and the duodenum and that's conducting those three major structures that are ascending to the
porta hepatis so the apat artery proper the common bile duct and the paddock portal vein thank you