Transverse pancreatic artery

Jasper Bosman and Assoc Prof Craig Hacking ◉ ◈ et al.

The transverse pancreatic artery, also known as the inferior pancreatic artery, is a branch of the splenic artery that supplies the pancreatic tail and body.

It arises from the proximal splenic artery and descends a short distance to run to the left along the posterior margin of the pancreas near its inferior margin. It usually anastomoses with branches of the dorsal pancreatic artery and other smaller splenic artery pancreatic branches within the pancreatic parenchyma.

Variant anatomy

The transverse pancreatic artery may arise from the dorsal pancreatic artery. It may also arise from the gastroduodenal artery or superior pancreaticoduodenal artery in which case it runs along the anterior surface of the pancreas and is often the dominant artery supplying the body of the pancreas.