Sigmoid colon
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Henry Knipe had no recorded disclosures.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures- Sigmoid colons
The sigmoid colon is the continuation of the descending colon.
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Gross anatomy
After the distal descending colon has curved medially it enters the pelvis, where it gains a mesentery and is then called the sigmoid colon. It measures approximately 15 cm in length.
It has a "S" (Greek letter sigma (σ)) shape and has a variable length and course - its apex may be as high as the umbilicus. It lies on its own mesentery - the inverted V-shaped sigmoid mesocolon.
The sigmoid colon continues as the rectum when it loses its mesentery, at approximately S3 level.
Relations
- anteriorly
- superiorly: loops of small intestine
- posteriorly: left internal iliac artery and vein, left ureter, piriformis muscle, sacrum, sacral plexus
- laterally
- male: pelvic side wall, ductus deferens
- female: pelvic side wall, ovary
Arterial supply
- two-to-four sigmoid arteries (branch of inferior mesenteric artery)
Venous drainage
- similarly named veins drain into the inferior mesenteric vein
Nerve supply
- sympathetic: inferior mesenteric plexus
- parasympathetic: via pelvic splanchnic nerves (from S2-S4) to the inferior mesenteric plexus
Lymphatic drainage
Lymphatics travel with vessels to the inferior mesenteric group.
Related pathology
Quiz questions
References
- 1. Paul Butler, Adam Mitchell, Jeremiah C. Healy. Applied Radiological Anatomy. (2012) ISBN: 9780521766661 - Google Books
- 2. Cornelius Rosse, Penelope Gaddum-Rosse, William Henry Hollinshead. Hollinshead's Textbook of Anatomy. (1997) ISBN: 0397512562 - Google Books
- 3. Madiba T, Haffajee M, Sikhosana M. Radiological Anatomy of the Sigmoid Colon. Surg Radiol Anat. 2008;30(5):409-15. doi:10.1007/s00276-008-0344-3 - Pubmed
Incoming Links
- Intraperitoneal organs (mnemonic)
- Colonic diverticulitis
- Bird beak sign (sigmoid colon)
- Taeniae coli
- Ureter
- Left hemicolectomy
- Transverse colon
- Bowel and mesenteric trauma
- Colonic diverticulosis
- Sigmoid volvulus
- Inferior mesenteric plexus
- Organomegaly
- Hirschsprung disease
- Diverticular disease
- Large bowel obstruction
- Left inframesocolic space
- Abdominoperineal resection
- Hartmann procedure
- Faecaloma
- Giant colonic diverticulum
- Female pelvis (Gray's illustration)
- Pathologic femoral fracture
- Uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis
- Epiploic appendagitis
- Colon diverticulosis
- Epiploic appendagitis
- Sigmoid colon cancer
- Elderly-onset ulcerative colitis
- Sigmoid colon cancer
- Sigmoid colon cancer
- Faecaloma with stercoral colitis
- Sigmoid colon adenocarcinoma with hepatic metastases
- Epiploic appendagitis
- Rectal foreign body
- Sigmoid diverticulitis
- Sacral mass
- Pneumoperitoneum - iatrogenic
- Sigmoid adenocarcinoma
- Gallstone ileus
- Colon perforation
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- skeleton of the abdomen and pelvis
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- perineum
- abdominal and pelvic viscera
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endocrine system
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adrenal gland
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kidney
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female reproductive system
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