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The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e., it has both an endocrine and a digestive exocrine function. [2] 99% of the pancreas is exocrine and 1% is endocrine.
There are about 1 million islets distributed throughout the pancreas of a healthy adult human. While islets vary in size, the average diameter is about 0.2 mm. [5]:928 Each islet is separated from the surrounding pancreatic tissue by a thin, fibrous, connective tissue capsule which is continuous with the fibrous connective tissue that is interwoven throughout the rest of the pancreas.
The pancreas produces and releases important digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice that it delivers to the duodenum. [24] The pancreas lies below and at the back of the stomach. It connects to the duodenum via the pancreatic duct which it joins near to the bile duct's connection where both the bile and pancreatic juice can act on the chyme ...
The duodenum receives excretions from various organs such as the pancreas and spleen. The pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar. [4] [5] The second part is the jejunum, which is located in the middle of the small intestine. The final part of the small intestine is the ileum, which leads into the large intestine.
One of these the lesser sac is located behind the stomach and joins into the greater sac via the foramen of Winslow. [1] Some of the organs are attached to the walls of the abdomen via folds of peritoneum and ligaments , such as the liver and others use broad areas of the peritoneum, such as the pancreas .
The pancreatic duct or duct of Wirsung (also, the major pancreatic duct due to the existence of an accessory pancreatic duct) is a duct joining the pancreas to the common bile duct. This supplies it with pancreatic juice from the exocrine pancreas, which aids in digestion.
Sometimes the pancreas fails to develop normally and there may be congenital defects associated with the uncinate process. The uncinate process may split and encircle the duodenum, which is known as an annular pancreas. [3] There is also a common condition called pancreas divisum where the dorsal and ventral pancreas do not fuse properly.
The pancreas, located in the abdomen, below and behind the stomach, is both an exocrine and an endocrine gland. The alpha and beta cells are the endocrine cells in the pancreatic islets that release insulin and glucagon and smaller amounts of other hormones into the blood. Insulin and glucagon influence blood sugar levels.