Normal Anatomy

Abdominal cavity

a body cavity lying inferior to the thorax (from which it is separated by the diaphragm) and superior to the pelvis. The abdomen is defined by the transversalis fascia. All structures lying within the transversal fascia are within the abdominal cavity. The abdominal cavity is further divided into the peritoneal cavity (the space is lined with serous membranes, the peritoneum), and the retroperitoneal space (lying between the posterior parietal peritoneum and the transversalis fascia). The abdominal cavity is often divided into four quadrants: right upper quadrant, left upper quadrant, right lower quadrant and left lower quadrant; and also three areas around the midline: epigastric, periumbilical and hypogastric areas. See Fig.1, Fig.2, Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5, Fig.6, Fig.7, Fig.8, Fig.9, Fig.10, Fig.11, Fig.12, Fig.13, Fig.14, Fig.15. The anatomical structures displayed in figures 1 - 15 are listed in Table 1. For further information, see under individual structure.

Abdominal cavity, Table 1.

1.	Abdominal wall	Fig. 1, Fig. 3, Fig. 4
2.	Adrenal gland (left)	Fig. 10
3.	Adrenal gland (right)	Fig. 9
4.	Aorta	Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8
5.	Ascending colon	Fig. 13, Fig. 14
6.	Biliary duct (left)	Fig. 9
7.	Biliary duct (right)	Fig. 9
8.	Caecum	Fig. 15
9.	Caudate lobe (of liver)	Fig. 8
10.	Coeliac axis	Fig. 10
11.	Cystic duct	Fig. 9
12.	Descending colon	Fig. 2, Fig. 4, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, Fig. 15
13.	Diaphragm	Fig. 1, Fig. 5
14.	Diaphragm, crus of	Fig. 8, Fig. 9
15.	Gallbladder	Fig. 10
16.	Hepatic flexure (of colon)	Fig. 3, Fig. 11
17.	Hepatic vein, right	Fig. 4
18.	Kidney	Fig. 1, Fig. 4, Fig. 9, Fig. 10, Fig. 11
19.	Ligament of Treitz	Fig. 2
20.	Ligamentum teres	Fig. 9, Fig. 10
21.	Liver	Fig. 1
22.	Lobe of liver, left	Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 7, Fig. 9
23.	Lobe of liver, right	Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 9
24.	Mesenteric artery, superior	Fig. 11
25.	Oesophagus	Fig. 6, Fig. 7
26.	Pancreatic body	Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 9, Fig. 10
27.	Pancreatic head	Fig. 2, Fig. 11
28.	Pancreatic tail	Fig. 4
29.	Portal vein, left	Fig. 8
30.	Portal vein, main	Fig. 9, Fig. 10
31.	Portal vein, right	Fig. 8
32.	Psoas muscle	Fig. 1, Fig. 4, Fig. 13, Fig. 15
33.	Renal artery, left	Fig. 12
34.	Renal vein, left	Fig. 11
35.	Renal vein, right	Fig. 11
36.	Renal pelvis	Fig. 12
37.	Small intestine	Fig. 3, Fig. 11, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, Fig. 15
38.	Spleen	Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Fig. 10
39.	Splenic flexure	Fig. 3, Fig. 9
40.	Splenic vein	Fig. 9, Fig. 10
41.	Stomach	Fig. 3, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Fig. 10
42.	Transverse colon	Fig. 13, Fig. 14
43.	Uncinate process of pancreas	Fig. 12
44.	Vena cava, inferior	Fig. 2, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 10,Fig. 11

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Fig.1

Radiograph, abdominal plain film, decubitus, AP projection.


Abdominal cavity, Fig.1	Abdominal cavity, Fig.2	Abdominal cavity, Fig.3

Abdominal cavity, Fig.4	Abdominal cavity, Fig.5	Abdominal cavity, Fig.6

Abdominal cavity, Fig.7	Abdominal cavity, Fig.8	Abdominal cavity, Fig.9

Abdominal cavity, Fig.10	Abdominal cavity, Fig.11	Abdominal cavity, Fig.12

Abdominal cavity, Fig.13	Abdominal cavity, Fig.14	Abdominal cavity, Fig.15

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Undecided
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