Common iliac artery

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Artery: Common iliac artery

Front of abdomen, showing surface markings for arteries and inguinal canal.

Bifurcation of the aorta and the right iliac arteries - side view. Hypogastric artery is an old term for internal iliac artery. (Com. iliac. a. is visible at center bottom left.)
Latin	arteria iliaca communis
Gray's	subject #155 613
Source	abdominal aorta
Branches	external iliac internal iliac
Vein	common iliac veins
Dorlands/Elsevier	a_61/12154545

The common iliac arteries are two large arteries, about 4cm long in adults but more than a centimetre in diameter, that originate from the aortic bifurcation and terminate when bifurcating into the external iliac artery and internal iliac artery. The common iliac artery, and all of its branches, exist as paired structures (that is to say, there is one on the left side and one on the right).

The distribution of the common iliac artery is basically the pelvis and lower limb on the corresponding side.

Both common iliac arteries are accompanied along their course by common iliac veins.

[edit] Additional images

The abdominal aorta and its branches.	Deep and superficial dissection of the lumbar plexus.	Dissection of side wall of pelvis showing sacral and pudendal plexuses.	Sacral plexus of the right side.
Abdominal portion of the sympathetic trunk, with the celiac and hypogastric plexuses.	Lower half of right sympathetic cord.	Transverse section of human embryo eight and a half to nine weeks old.	Posterior abdominal wall, after removal of the peritoneum, showing kidneys, suprarenal capsules, and great vessels.

[edit] External links

Gray's s157 - "The arteries of the lower extremity"
Gray's s173 - "The veins of the lower extremity, abdomen, and pelvis"
Hypogastric artery - thefreedictionary.com
Atlas of anatomy at UMich abdo_wall75 - "The Abdominal Aorta"
SUNY Labs 40:09-0102 - "Posterior Abdominal Wall: The Abdominal Aorta and Paraaortic Nerve Plexus"
SUNY Anatomy Image 8969