Inferior mesenteric lymph nodes

Inferior mesenteric lymph nodes
Lymphatics of colon. (Inferior mesenteric labeled at bottom center.)
Details
Drains to	preaortic lymph node
Latin	nodi lymphoidei mesenterici inferiores
Anatomical terminology []

The inferior mesenteric lymph nodes consist of:

The inferior mesenteric lymph nodes are lymph nodes present throughout the hindgut.

The inferior mesenteric lymph nodes drain structures related to the hindgut. The lymph nodes drain into the superior mesenteric lymph nodes and ultimately to the preaortic lymph nodes. Lymph nodes surrounding the inferior mesenteric artery drain directly into the preaortic nodes.

They drain the descending colon and sigmoid parts of the colon and the upper part of the rectum.

Colorectal cancer may metastasise to the inferior mesenteric lymph nodes. For this reason, the inferior mesenteric artery may be removed in people with lymph node-positive cancer. This has been proposed since at least 1908, by surgeon William Ernest Miles.

Regional lymph tissue

Lymph Nodes of the Large Intestine and Lower Abdomen

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)