Common iliac vein
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Owen Kang had no recorded disclosures.
View Owen Kang's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Kajanan Nithiyananthan had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Kajanan Nithiyananthan's current disclosures- Vena iliaca communis
- Common iliac veins
The common iliac vein (CIV) (TA: vena iliaca communis), corresponding with the common iliac artery, drains venous blood from the pelvis, lower limbs and their associated structures.
On this page:
Summary
location: pelvis, anterior to the sacroiliac joint
origin and termination: union of internal and external iliac veins; into the inferior vena cava
tributaries: iliolumbar and lateral sacral veins
relations: common iliac arteries, lumbosacral plexus, psoas major muscle and vertebral column
Gross anatomy
Origin
It originates anterior to the sacroiliac joint from the union of the internal and external iliac veins. The common iliac veins are valveless in most people 3, and therefore may be used as central veins for the purposes of measuring right atrial pressures.
Course and termination
It courses superiorly and obliquely to unite with the contralateral vein, forming the inferior vena cava at the level of the L5 vertebral body.
Tributaries
Bilaterally, the veins receive the iliolumbar and lateral sacral veins which drain the iliopsoas muscle, the L4 and L5 vertebrae, and the obturator vein from the medial compartment of the thigh. The left common iliac vein additionally receives the median sacral vein.
Relations
Left common iliac vein
anteriorly: attachment of the sigmoid mesocolon, superior rectal vessels
laterally: common iliac artery (later anteriorly, further up its course)
Right common iliac vein
anteriorly: common iliac artery (later medially, further up its course)
posteriorly: right obturator nerve
Variant anatomy
the left common iliac vein occasionally receives the left renal vein
Related pathology
References
- 1. Chummy S. Sinnatamby. Last's Anatomy. (2011) ISBN: 9780702033957 - Google Books
- 2. Susan Standring. Gray's Anatomy. (2008) ISBN: 9780443066849 - Google Books
- 3. Caggiati A. The venous valves of the lower limbs. (2013) Phlebolymphology 20 (2): 87. https://www.phlebolymphology.org/the-venous-valves-of-the-lower-limbs/
Incoming Links
- Valveless vein
- Central vein
- Abdominal surface anatomy
- Marsupial cava
- Superior hypogastric plexus
- Absent infrarenal inferior vena cava
- Medical abbreviations and acronyms (C)
- Vascular compression disorders
- Simmons catheter
- Ascending lumbar vein
- Transposition of inferior vena cava
- Sacroiliac joint
- Inferior vena cava
- May-Thurner syndrome
- Iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis
- Median sacral artery
- Venae cavae
- Sacrum
- Common iliac artery
- External iliac vein
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