The structure of the abdominal cavity of man. Anatomical features

The structure of the abdominal cavity of man is strikingly different from the structure of similar anatomical structures in other mammalian species. The abdominal cavity (cavum abdominis) or abdominal cavity is called the space laced by the intra-abdominal fascia, bounded from above by the diaphragm sheet, from both sides and from the front by the broad muscles (musculi obliqui et transversus abdominis) of the abdomen, and at the back - by the lumbar spine and adjacent muscles . Below it, that is, the abdominal or abdominal cavity, smoothly passes into a small cavity of the small pelvis. In the abdominal space are various internal organs along with the peritoneum covering them, as well as large vascular trunks and nerves.

The structure of the abdominal cavity of a person is studied in detail in higher medical schools, since the diseases of the organs located in it are the most common pathological conditions in medical practice. It is from the profound knowledge of the surgeon of such a feature of the human body as the structure of the abdominal cavity that at times the life of not one dozen people in need of his help depends.

The structure of the organs of the abdominal cavity is characterized by the fact that most of them are covered with a thin serous membrane called the peritoneum. The peritoneum is a delicate and very thin connective tissue structure that has a huge amount of differentiated elastic fibers and is covered inside by a single-layered flat epithelium, that is, mesothelium. This thin serous membrane has a large and very peculiar absorption capacity. Serous fluid, which sufficiently produces the peritoneal mesothelium, lubricates the surface of all internal organs, facilitating their friction between themselves. Thanks to this unique property of the peritoneum, a healthy person does not feel any discomfort and any changes in his own abdominal cavity. However, with inflammatory phenomena, when the foreign effusion falls on the peritoneal sheets, a feeling of sharp and incessant pain arises. In inflammatory processes, the peritoneum can form spikes to limit the spread of infection throughout the abdominal cavity.

The structure of the abdominal cavity of a person is the same for each of the representatives of Homo sapiens. Only it can differ slightly in different periods of his life. In childhood there are special characteristics, in the adult - their own. There are also some differences between the male and female abdominal cavity. In the representatives of the strong half, this cavity is a closed space, and in the female part of the population it is not such, because through the fallopian tubes it communicates with the uterine cavity, and through the vagina with the surrounding external environment.

Organs in the abdominal or abdominal cavity can be covered with a serosa or on all sides, or only partially. Some of them are not covered by the peritoneum at all. The peritoneum, which lining the walls of the abdomen, is called the parietal peritoneum, that is, the parietal, and the one that lines most of the internal organs is called the visceral or internal peritoneum. Therefore, speaking in general, we can say that the structure of the human abdominal cavity is nothing more than a slit-like space between the parietal (parietal) and visceral (intestinal) leaves, filled with a small amount of aseptic serous fluid.

In the peritoneum, the following parts are also distinguished, which are called mesentery. Mesentery, or duplication, are bifurcated peritoneal sheets on which a small intestine without a duodenum, appendicular process, transverse and sigmoid parts of the colon of the large intestine are suspended from the back wall of the abdominal cavity.