Clinical and Variant Anatomy of the Blood Supply to the Body and Tail of the Human Pancreas

Abstract

The aim of the study was to specify peculiarities of the blood supply to the body and tail of the human pancreas determining topographic variants and vascular bed of the splenic artery.Material and methods. The artery basin of the pancreas body and tail was studied in 46 native and 42 organ complexes consisting of the pancreas, duodenum, spleen, retropancreatic tissue, celiac trunk with the main branches, a section of the superior mesenteric artery up to the entrance into the root of the small intestine mesentery with the preliminary artery injection by gelatin mass. The organ complexes were fixed in 10% formalin solution.Results. The study revealed two variants of the splenic artery topography in relation to the pancreas and determined the degree of tortuosity of the artery. In 31.7% of cases the vessel passed retro-pancreatically and in 68.3% suprapancreatically. Moderate tortuosity of the splenic artery was detected most frequently (44.82%); in 34.48% of cases severe tortuosity was detected; in 17.24% of cases there was no tortuosity in the artery. The correlation between area/convolution and the number of pancreatic arteries was found to be 0.864 (p=0.05), which is considered to be a high parameter according to the Cheddock scale. In severe tortuosity of the splenic artery 3.16±0.37 pancreatic arteries on average closed to the corpus caudal segment of the pancreas, in moderate tortuosity – 5.09±1.24, in straight passage – 9±1.22.Conclusion. The regularities revealed in the spleen artery topography, blood supply of the pancreas body and tail allow determining operational risks and tactics of surgical interventions on the corpus caudal segment of the pancreas.