Haustral folds

Last revised by Zach Drew on 11 Sep 2019

The haustral folds (Latin: haustrum, plural: haustra) represent folds of mucosa within the colon. The haustra refer to the small segmented pouches of bowel separated by the haustral folds. They are formed by circumferential contraction of the inner muscular layer of the colon.

The outer longitudinal muscular layer is organized into three bands (taeniae coli) which run from the cecum to the rectum. These muscular bands and the elongated serosal fat saccules (appendices epiploicae) aid in the identification of the colon within the peritoneal cavity.