The ileal branch of the ileocolic artery is one of five branches that exist in the ileocolic artery. It supplies oxygenated blood to the ileum, which is the end of the small intestine, and both arises from and connects back to the superior mesenteric artery.
The ileocolic artery arises from the superior mesenteric artery’s concavity, a depression in the artery, and is the lowest branch to do so. The superior mesenteric artery comes from the abdominal aorta’s anterior (front) surface, just below the beginning of the celiac trunk. It supplies oxygenated blood to the pancreas and lower parts of the intestine, including the duodenum and the transverse colon.
After the ileocolic artery comes from the superior mesenteric artery, it crosses downwards towards the right iliac fossa, the curved, inner surface of the large bone of the pelvis. It crosses directly behind the peritoneum, a membrane that helps to form the lining of the abdominal cavity.
The ileal branch of the ileocolic artery runs to the left and upwards on the ileum’s lower portion and connects with the end of the superior mesenteric artery. The other branches of the ileocolic artery include the colic branch, the ileocecal, the anterior and posterior cecal, and the appendicular artery.