Sigmoid colon
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
| Sigmoid colon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1: Ascending colon 2: Transverse colon 3: Descending colon 4: Sigmoid colon 5: Rectum | |
 | |
| Front of abdomen, showing surface markings for liver, stomach, and great intestine. | |
| Latin | colon sigmoideum |
| Gray's | subject #249 1182 |
| Artery | sigmoid arteries |
| Nerve | superior mesenteric ganglia, sacral nerve [1] |
| Precursor | hindgut |
| Dorlands/Elsevier | c_47/12249909 |
The sigmoid colon (pelvic colon; sigmoid flexure) forms a loop which averages about 40 cm. in length, and normally lies within the pelvis, but on account of its freedom of movement it is liable to be displaced into the abdominal cavity.
Path
It begins at the superior aperture of the lesser pelvis, where it is continuous with the iliac colon, and passes transversely across the front of the sacrum to the right side of the pelvis.
It then curves on itself and turns toward the left to reach the middle line at the level of the third piece of the sacrum, where it bends downward and ends in the rectum. According to Isaac Asimov's book The Human Body, the name sigmoid means "S-shaped."
Coverings
It is completely surrounded by peritoneum, which forms a mesentery (sigmoid mesocolon), which diminishes in length from the center toward the ends of the loop, where it disappears, so that the loop is fixed at its junctions with the iliac colon and rectum, but enjoys a considerable range of movement in its central portion.
Relations
Behind the sigmoid colon are the external iliac vessels, the left Piriformis, and left sacral plexus of nerves.
In front, it is separated from the bladder in the male, and the uterus in the female, by some coils of the small intestine.
Additional images
 Intestines |
 Sigmoid colon and rectum, showing distribution of branches of inferior mesenteric artery and their anastomoses. |
 Iliac colon, sigmoid or pelvic colon, and rectum seen from the front, after removal of pubic bones and bladder. |
 Sagittal section of the lower part of a female trunk, right segment. |
References
External links
- Sigmoid+colon at eMedicine Dictionary
- SUNY Figs 37:06-07 - "The large intestine."
- Norman/Georgetown sup&infmesentericart
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
de:Colon sigmoideum fr:Sigmoïde (anatomie)sv:Colon sigmoideum
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
