362

Chapter 13

To right atrium

Inferior vena cava

Hepatic
Liver
veins

Hepatic
portal Gastric Stomach
vein veins

Spleen
Splenic
and
vein
pancreas

Superior Inferior
mesenteric mesenteric
vein vein

Small intestine, cecum, Descending colon,

ascending colon, and sigmoid colon,
transverse colon and upper rectum

Right Left
Right adrenal Left adrenal
suprarenal suprarenal
gland gland
vein vein

Right Left
Right kidney Left kidney
renal vein renal vein

Right ovary Right Left Left ovary

or testis gonadal gonadal or testis
vein vein

Back and Back and

Lumbar Lumbar
abdominal abdominal
veins veins
wall wall

Right Left
common common
iliac vein iliac vein

Right Right Left Left

external internal internal external
iliac vein iliac vein iliac vein iliac vein

From right lower limb Pelvis, pelvic organs, Pelvis, pelvic organs, From left lower limb
and anterior external genitalia, external genitalia, and anterior
abdominal wall and hip and hip abdominal wall

Figure 13.18  Major Veins of the Abdomen and Pelvis

The diagram represents the relationships among the major veins that carry blood from structures of the abdomen and pelvis.

The liver is a major processing center for substances absorbed
by the intestinal tract. As such, blood from the capillaries within
most of the abdominal viscera, such as the stomach, intestines,
pancreas, and spleen, drains through a specialized portal system
to the liver. A portal (pōr′tăl) system is a system of blood ves-
sels that begins and ends with capillary beds and has no pumping
mechanism, such as the heart, in between. The hepatic (he-pa′tik)
portal system (figure 13.19) begins with capillaries in the vis-
cera and ends with capillaries in the liver. The major vessels of
the hepatic portal system are the splenic (splen′ik) vein and the
superior mesenteric vein. The inferior mesenteric vein emp-
ties into the splenic vein. The splenic vein carries blood from the