Surgically Important Variations of Coeliac Trunk

Abstract

The coeliac trunk provides arterial supply primarily to derivatives of foregut such as the stomach, spleen, the liver, gall bladder, abdominal esophagus, pancreas and duodenum. Vascular anatomy of the pancreas is very important for the surgeons to do ligation and to arrest profuse bleeding in case of any surgery involving pancreas. So the knowledge about vessels supplying pancreas and its variations is very important. Here was an unusual rare tetrafurcation of coeliac trunk. Apart from the usual three branches namely left gastric, splenic and common hepatic artery, one more branch called dorsal pancreatic artery arises directly from the coeliac trunk to supply most of the pancreas.