Celiac Trunk

What is the celiac trunk?

Your celiac trunk is an artery that branches off from your abdominal aorta. Because your celiac trunk connects to your aorta (the biggest artery in your body), it handles a lot of blood. Think of your celiac trunk like a large pipe that gets its water supply from a water main in your neighborhood.

You only have one celiac trunk artery, but it has an important job. It supplies some of your digestive organs with oxygen-rich blood. When you feel sleepy after lunch, think about your celiac trunk sending extra blood to your digestive organs. They’re hard at work getting nutrients from the food you ate.

Celiac comes from a Greek word for abdominal, the same area where people with celiac disease have issues.

What does the celiac trunk do?

Your celiac trunk carries blood with oxygen to parts of your digestive system. These organs get blood from your celiac trunk:

• Liver
• Gallbladder
• Spleen
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Pancreas
• Duodenum

A blockage in the celiac trunk would affect these organs.

Where is the celiac trunk located?

Your celiac trunk artery is located below your rib cage, but near your spine. To find your celiac trunk, take your finger and put it below where your breastbone (sternum) ends, then go across your belly, around your side and to your back. Stop at your spine, just above your lower back (lumbar spine). Your celiac trunk is on the other side of your spine.

What are the parts of the celiac trunk?

Your celiac trunk branches include:

• Splenic artery that takes blood to your spleen. This artery has branches that go to your stomach and pancreas
• Left gastric artery that carries blood to parts of your stomach and esophagus
• Common hepatic artery. It has branches that carry blood to your liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas and duodenum

Some people have a variation in how other arteries branch off from their celiac trunk. They may not connect to it at all. Examples include a left gastric artery that branches off from an abdominal aorta or splenic artery. It’s also possible for your celiac trunk anatomy to have four, five or six branches instead of the typical three. People who are Black, Japanese or Korean may be more likely to have these variations.

What does the celiac trunk look like?

Your celiac trunk is a tube that’s about .59 to .78 inches (1.5 to 2 centimeters) long. That’s smaller than a postage stamp. Your celiac trunk’s average diameter is between .23 to .47 inches (6 and 12 millimeters). That’s roughly the size of a pea.

Like other arteries, your celiac trunk has three layers in its artery wall. These layers contain connective tissue, muscle and elastic fibers. Arteries need to be stretchy to handle the pressure of blood coming from your heart with force.

What are the common conditions and disorders that affect the celiac trunk?

Multiple conditions can affect your celiac trunk, like:

• Stenosis (narrowing)
• Thrombosis (blockage from a blood clot)
• Aneurysm (weakness in an artery wall that makes it stretch out too much)
• Dissection (a tear or separation of artery wall layers)
• Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS), a ligament compressing your celiac artery

Common signs or symptoms of celiac trunk conditions

An issue with your celiac trunk artery may cause pain in your upper abdomen, nausea and vomiting.

Common tests to check the health of the celiac trunk

Tests to check the health of your celiac trunk and branches may include:

• Doppler ultrasound, which uses sound waves to show blood movement.
• CT angiogram (computed tomography angiogram), an X-ray that shows blood vessels.
• MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram), an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan that creates images of blood vessels.
• Angiogram, which uses X-ray fluoroscopy to make images of blood vessels.

What are the common treatments for the celiac trunk?

Treatments for conditions that affect your celiac trunk artery include:

• Medicines like antihypertensives and anticoagulants
• Angioplasty to open your artery
• Stent to hold your artery open
• Bypass surgery to improve blood flow
• Surgery to fix MALS, an aneurysm or a dissection

How can I keep my celiac trunk healthy?

Anything that supports good heart health keeps your celiac trunk and branches working well, too. Things you can do include:

• Getting 150 minutes of physical activity each week
• Eating foods that have low levels of salt and fat
• Avoiding tobacco products
• Managing your stress level
• Staying at a weight that’s healthy for you
• Sleeping seven to nine hours every night (for adults)
• Managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes