A MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF BRANCHING PATTERN OF INFERIOR MESENTERIC ARTERY

Abstract

Inferior Mesenteric Artery (IMA) is a major anterior branch of the abdominal aorta that supplies arterial blood to the organs of the hind gut. Knowledge of the arterial supply of the gut is essential for anatomists and surgeons for the safety and survival of patients in standard operative procedures. The study was conducted at Department of Anatomy, Gandhi Medical College, Musheerabad, Secunderabad, Telangana, India. The material consisted of seventy five adult cadavers (40 - 70 years) and 25 fetuses (28 – 38 weeks). This paper is aimed to study the morphology and the branching pattern of the inferior mesenteric artery and emphasize the anatomical variations. The most common branching pattern of inferior mesenteric artery was into LCA in 74 (98.66%) cases and common sigmoid trunk which gave off 3 - 4 sigmoid arteries. Absence of LCA was observed in one single case of adult cadavers and one in fetuses and sigmoid vessels were found to be arising from IMA, giving origin to two small branches and continued as superior rectal artery (SRA). In 70% of the cases the sigmoid arteries presented normal branching pattern. The sigmoid arteries were 3-4 in number. However, the anatomical arcade in the present study is unaffected, unaltered by anomalous arterial pattern of IMA.