Abdomen
The human abdomen (from the Latin word meaning "belly") is the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax. Anatomically, the abdomen stretches from the thorax at the thoracic diaphragm to the pelvis at the pelvic brim. The pelvic brim stretches from the lumbosacral angle (the intervertebral disk between L5 and S1) to the pubic symphysis and is the edge of the pelvic inlet. The space above this inlet and under the thoracic diaphragm is termed the abdominal cavity. The boundary of the abdominal cavity is the abdominal wall.
Functionally, the abdomen is where most of the alimentary tract is placed and so most of the absorption and digestion of food occurs here. The alimentary tract in the abdomen consists of the lower oesophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, the jejunum, ileum, the caecum and the appendix, the ascending, transverse and descending colons, the sigmoid colon and the rectum. Other vital organs inside the abdominal cavity include the liver, the kidneys, the pancreas and the spleen.
The abdominal wall is split into the posterior (back), lateral (sides) and anterior (front) walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the extraperitoneal fat, the parietal peritoneum, and a layer of fascia which has different names over where it covers (eg transversalis, psoas fascia). Superficial to these, but NOT present in the posterior wall is the three layers of muscle, the transversus abdominus (tranvserse abdominal muscle), the internal (obliquus internus) and the external oblique (obliquus externus).
Functionally, the abdomen is where most of the alimentary tract is placed and so most of the absorption and digestion of food occurs here. The alimentary tract in the abdomen consists of the lower oesophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, the jejunum, ileum, the caecum and the appendix, the ascending, transverse and descending colons, the sigmoid colon and the rectum. Other vital organs inside the abdominal cavity include the liver, the kidneys, the pancreas and the spleen.
The abdominal wall is split into the posterior (back), lateral (sides) and anterior (front) walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the extraperitoneal fat, the parietal peritoneum, and a layer of fascia which has different names over where it covers (eg transversalis, psoas fascia). Superficial to these, but NOT present in the posterior wall is the three layers of muscle, the transversus abdominus (tranvserse abdominal muscle), the internal (obliquus internus) and the external oblique (obliquus externus).
Source: wikipedia, under GFDL
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