Corpus: Mesentery

The mesentery or mesentery, also shortened to meso, is a doubling of the peritoneum that originates from the posterior abdominal wall.

In a broader sense, mesentery refers to all mesenteries of the intraperitoneal organs. In a narrower sense, mesentery refers to the mesentery of the small intestine, more specifically the ileum and jejunum.

The respective intestinal sections are elastically suspended from the mesenteries, so that although they are partially fixed in the abdominal cavity, they are still mobile. In addition, the mesenteries contain lymph nodes, connective and fatty tissue as well as vessels and nerves to supply the intestine.

At the intestinal loops, the mesentery merges into the serosa of the intestine. The attachment of a mesentery remote from the organ is known as the radix mesenterii (mesenteric root). This is where the visceral and parietal leaflets of the peritoneum meet. If a mesentery is stretched between two organs, it is referred to as a ligament.

The mesenteries are systematically named after the organ that they suspend from the abdominal wall. However, some of these mesenteries are only present during the embryonic period and regress later. A distinction is made between:

• Mesogastrium
• Mesoduodenum
• Mesojejunum
• Mesoileum
• Mesocolon
  • Mesocolon transversum
  • Mesocolon sigmoideum
  • Mesoappendix
• Mesorectum

Part of the ligamentous apparatus of the female reproductive organs also belongs to the mesenteries, namely the ligamentum latum uteri with its three parts:

• mesovarium
• mesosalpinx
• mesometrium

Outside the abdominal cavity, the mesorchium of the testis and the mesepididymis of the epididymis can be considered mesenteries in a broader sense.