Anatomy, Anterolateral Abdominal Wall Veins

Excerpt

The anterolateral abdominal wall includes the front and side walls of the abdomen.

The venous drainage of the superficial anterolateral abdominal wall involves an elaborate subcutaneous venous plexus. This plexus drains superiorly and medially to the internal thoracic vein. It drains superiorly and laterally to the lateral thoracic vein. Further, the plexus drains inferiorly to the superficial epigastric vein and the inferior epigastric vein which are tributaries of the femoral vein and external iliac vein, respectively.

A layer of connective tissue lining the abdominal cavity namely the extraperitoneal fascia lies deep to the transversalis fascia and contains varying amounts of fat. The vasculature extending into mesenteries is located in this extraperitoneal fascia which is abundant on the posterior abdominal wall, especially around the kidneys, and continues over organs covered by peritoneal reflections.