A fold of

peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of meso ...

, the phrenicocolic ligament is continued from the

left colic flexure In the anatomy of the human digestive tract, there are two colic flexures, or curvatures in the transverse colon. The right colic flexure is also known as the hepatic flexure, and the left colic flexure is also known as the splenic flexure. Note ...

to the

thoracic diaphragm The thoracic diaphragm, or simply the diaphragm ( grc, διάφραγμα, diáphragma, partition), is a sheet of internal skeletal muscle in humans and other mammals that extends across the bottom of the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm is the m ...

opposite the tenth and

eleventh rib The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi ...

s; it passes below and serves to support the

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

, and therefore has received the name of ''sustentaculum lienis''. The phrenicocolic ligament is also called Hensing's ligament after Friedrich Wilhelm Hensing (1719–1745), a German professor for medicine in

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

.''Friedrich W. Hensing'' in The Free Dictionary by Farlex, Medical Eponyms, Farlex, 2012.
/ref>

Clinical significance

Knowledge of basic anatomic and the variations of suspensory ligament of the spleen it is essential in the case of open surgery or laparoscopic splenectomy. Moreover, during some

surgical procedures Many surgical procedure names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means stomach. Thus, ''gastrectomy'' refers to the surgical remo ...

, in many cases it is necessary to exert a certain degree of traction on the

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

and on its peritoneal insertions. Unfortunately this traction may result in a rupture of the fibrous capsule of the organ, resulting in severe bleeding, very difficult to control. Particularly hazardous is the downward traction of the phrenicocolic ligament (this maneuver may be necessary for the mobilization of splenic flexure). This ligament marks the site where the colon exits the peritoneal cavity: the phrenicocolic ligament so is an important point of intersection of abdominal anatomy and, consequently, a crucial point for spread of abdominal disease.

References

External links

* * Abdomen {{ligament-stub