Stomach

The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The Ancient Greek name for the stomach is gaster which is used as gastric in medical terms related to the stomach. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach is involved in the gastric phase of digestion, following the cephalic phase in which the sight and smell of food and the act of chewing are stimuli. In the stomach a chemical breakdown of food takes place by means of secreted digestive enzymes and gastric acid. It also plays a role in regulating gut microbiota, influencing digestion and overall health. The stomach is located between the esophagus and the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter controls the passage of partially digested food (chyme) from the stomach into the duodenum, the first and shortest part of the small intestine, where peristalsis takes over to move this through the rest of the intestines.

Structure In the human digestive system, the stomach lies between the esophagus and the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). It is in the left upper quadrant of the abdominal cavity. The top of the stomach lies against the diaphragm. Lying behind the stomach is the pancreas. A large double fold of visceral peritoneum called the greater omentum hangs down from the greater curvature of the stomach. Two sphincters keep the contents of the stomach contained; the lower esophageal sphincter (found in the cardiac region), at the junction of the esophagus and stomach, and the pyloric sphincter at the junction of the stomach with the duodenum. The stomach is surrounded by parasympathetic (inhibitor) and sympathetic (stimulant) plexuses (networks of blood vessels and nerves in the anterior gastric, posterior, superior and inferior, celiac and myenteric), which regulate both the secretory activity of the stomach and the motor (motion) activity of its muscles. The stomach is distensible, and can normally expand to hold about one litre of food. The shape of the stomach depends upon the degree of its distension and that of surrounding viscera, e.g. the colon. When empty, the stomach is somewhat J-shaped; when partially distended, it becomes pyriform in shape. In obese persons, it is more horizontal. In a newborn human baby the stomach will only be able to hold about 30 millilitres. The maximum stomach volume in adults is between 2 and 4 litres, although volumes of up to 15 litres have been observed in extreme circumstances.

Sections

The human stomach can be divided into four sections, beginning at the cardia followed by the fundus, the body and the pylorus.

The gastric cardia is where the contents of the esophagus empty from the gastroesophageal sphincter into the cardiac orifice, the opening into the gastric cardia. A cardiac notch at the left of the cardiac orifice, marks the beginning of the greater curvature of the stomach. A horizontal line across from the cardiac notch gives the dome-shaped region called the fundus. The cardia is a very small region of the stomach that surrounds the esophageal opening. The fundus (from Latin 'bottom') is formed in the upper curved part. The body or corpus is the main, central region of the stomach. The pylorus (from Greek 'gatekeeper') connects the stomach to the duodenum at the pyloric sphincter. The pyloric antrum opens to the body of the stomach. The cardia is defined as the region following the "z-line" of the gastroesophageal junction, the point at which the epithelium changes from stratified squamous to columnar. Near the cardia is the lower esophageal sphincter.

Anatomical proximity The stomach bed refers to the structures upon which the stomach rests in mammals. These include the tail of the pancreas, splenic artery, left kidney, left suprarenal gland, transverse colon and its mesocolon, and the left crus of diaphragm, and the left colic flexure. The term was introduced around 1896 by Philip Polson of the Catholic University School of Medicine, Dublin. However this was brought into disrepute by surgeon anatomist J Massey.

Blood supply

The lesser curvature of the human stomach is supplied by the right gastric artery inferiorly and the left gastric artery superiorly, which also supplies the cardiac region. The greater curvature is supplied by the right gastroepiploic artery inferiorly and the left gastroepiploic artery superiorly. The fundus of the stomach, and also the upper portion of the greater curvature, is supplied by 5-7 short gastric arteries, which arise from the splenic artery.

Lymphatic drainage The two sets of gastric lymph nodes drain the stomach's tissue fluid into the lymphatic system through the intestinal lymph trunk, to the cisterna chyli.

Microanatomy

Wall

Like the other parts of the gastrointestinal wall, the human stomach wall from inner to outer, consists of a mucosa, submucosa, muscular layer, subserosa and serosa. The inner part of the stomach wall is the gastric mucosa a mucous membrane that forms the lining of the stomach. The membrane consists of an outer layer of columnar epithelium, a lamina propria, and a thin layer of smooth muscle called the muscularis mucosa. Beneath the mucosa lies the submucosa, consisting of fibrous connective tissue. Meissner's plexus is in this layer interior to the oblique muscle layer. Outside of the submucosa lies the muscular layer. It consists of three layers of muscular fibres, with fibres lying at angles to each other. These are the inner oblique, middle circular, and outer longitudinal layers. The presence of the inner oblique layer is distinct from other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, which do not possess this layer. The stomach contains the thickest muscular layer consisting of three layers, thus maximum peristalsis occurs here.

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