The lumbar arteries are

arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...

located in the lower back or

lumbar region In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means ''of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum.'' The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an area of the back ...

. The lumbar arteries are in parallel with the intercostals. They are usually four in number on either side, and arise from the back of the

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...

, opposite the bodies of the upper four

lumbar vertebrae The lumbar vertebrae are, in human anatomy, the five vertebrae between the rib cage and the pelvis. They are the largest segments of the vertebral column and are characterized by the absence of the foramen transversarium within the transverse p ...

. A fifth pair, small in size, is occasionally present: they arise from the middle sacral artery. They run lateralward and backward on the bodies of the

, behind the

sympathetic trunk The sympathetic trunks (sympathetic chain, gangliated cord) are a paired bundle of nerve fibers that run from the base of the skull to the coccyx. They are a major component of the sympathetic nervous system. Structure The sympathetic trunk lies j ...

, to the intervals between the adjacent transverse processes, and are then continued into the abdominal wall. The arteries of the right side pass behind the

inferior vena cava The inferior vena cava is a large vein that carries the deoxygenated blood from the lower and middle body into the right atrium of the heart. It is formed by the joining of the right and the left common iliac veins, usually at the level of th ...

, and the upper two on each side run behind the corresponding crus of the diaphragm. The arteries of both sides pass beneath the tendinous arches which give origin to the

psoas major The psoas major ( or ; from grc, ψόᾱ, psóā, muscles of the loins) is a long fusiform muscle located in the lateral lumbar region between the vertebral column and the brim of the lesser pelvis. It joins the iliacus muscle to form the iliop ...

, and are then continued behind this muscle and the

lumbar plexus The lumbar plexus is a web of nerves (a nervous plexus) in the lumbar region of the body which forms part of the larger lumbosacral plexus. It is formed by the Ventral ramus of spinal nerve, divisions of the first four lumbar nerves (L1-L4) and ...

. They now cross the quadratus lumborum, the upper three arteries running behind, the last usually in front of the muscle. At the lateral border of the quadratus lumborum they pierce the posterior aponeurosis of the

transversus abdominis The transverse abdominal muscle (TVA), also known as the transverse abdominis, transversalis muscle and transversus abdominis muscle, is a muscle layer of the anterior and lateral (front and side) abdominal wall which is deep to (layered below) t ...

and are carried forward between this muscle and the obliquus internus. They anastomose with the lower intercostal, the subcostal, the iliolumbar, the deep iliac circumflex, and the inferior epigastric arteries.

Additional images

Image:Gray1120.png, The relations of the viscera and large vessels of the abdomen.

References

External links

* - "Branches of the Abdominal Aorta" * - "The Abdominal Aorta" * - "Parietal and visceral branches of the abdominal aorta." {{Authority control Arteries of the abdomen

Additional images

See also

References

External links