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Watershed area is the medical term referring to regions of the body, [1] that receive dual blood supply from the most distal branches of two large arteries, such as the splenic flexure of the large intestine. The term refers metaphorically to a geological watershed, or drainage divide, which separates adjacent drainage basins. For example, the ...
These watershed areas are most vulnerable to ischemia when blood flow decreases, as they have the fewest vascular collaterals. [ citation needed ] The rectum receives blood from both the inferior mesenteric artery and the internal iliac artery ; the rectum is rarely involved by colonic ischemia due to this dual blood supply.
The left colic flexure or splenic flexure (as it is close to the spleen) is the sharp bend between the transverse colon and the descending colon. The splenic flexure receives dual blood supply from the terminal branches of the superior mesenteric artery and the inferior mesenteric artery .
The transverse colon is the part of the colon from the hepatic flexure, also known as the right colic, (the turn of the colon by the liver) to the splenic flexure also known as the left colic, (the turn of the colon by the spleen). The transverse colon hangs off the stomach, attached to it by a large fold of peritoneum called the greater omentum.
Fecal calprotectin, a marker of colon inflammation, may be elevated. Computed tomography of the abdomen is not routinely necessary, but may show thickening or inflammation in the distal colon (sigmoid colon) with associated diverticulosis. Treatment may consist of antibiotics, aminosalicylates (mesalamine), or prednisone. In rare cases, surgery ...
Watershed strokes are named because they affect the distal watershed areas of the brain. The original terminology came from the German literature, which used the analogy of an irrigation system. The German scholars compared the blood flow in distal arterial territories of the brain to the last field on a farm, which was the area with the least ...
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A less obvious medial paracolic gutter may be formed, especially on the right side, if the colon possesses a short mesentery for part of its length. The right (lateral) paracolic gutter runs from the superiolateral aspect of the hepatic flexure of the colon, down the lateral aspect of the ascending colon, and around the cecum.