Splenic artery

Last revised by Travis Fahrenhorst-Jones on 14 Aug 2023

The splenic artery is one of the three branches of the celiac trunk, which supplies the spleen as well as large parts of the stomach and pancreas.

The splenic artery is one of the terminal branches of the celiac trunk, passing left from the celiac axis across the left crus of the diaphragm and left psoas muscle. It is a tortuous artery, running superior to the pancreas before turning forward into the splenorenal ligament to the hilum of the spleen. The splenic vein accompanies it inferoposteriorly.

Near the splenic hilum the splenic artery divides into superior and inferior terminal branches, with each terminal branch further dividing into four to six intrasplenic segmental branches. 

  • separate origin from the abdominal aorta rather than the celiac trunk (~8%)

In the past, it was called lienal artery 4.

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Cases and figures

  • Figure 1: annotated angiogram
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  • Figure 2: celiac artery (Gray's illustration)
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  • Case 1: separate origin from the abdominal aorta
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  • Case 2: direct aortic origin
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