Lumbar arteries 4485642 89681612 2006-11-23T17:56:39Z Arcadian 104523 added image {{Infobox Artery | Name = {{PAGENAME}} | Latin = arteriae lumbales | GraySubject = 154 | GrayPage = 612 | Image = Gray585.png | Caption = The veins of the right half of the male pelvis. (Lumbar arteries not labeled, but third lumbar vein labeled at center top.) | Image2 = | Caption2 = | BranchFrom = [[abdominal aorta]] | BranchTo = | Vein = [[Lumbar veins]] | Supplies = [[Quadratus lumborum muscle|Quadratus lumborum]] | MeshName = | MeshNumber = | DorlandsPre = a_61 | DorlandsSuf = 12154932 | }} The '''lumbar arteries''' are in series with the [[Intercostal arteries|intercostals]]. They are usually four in number on either side, and arise from the back of the [[aorta]], opposite the bodies of the upper four [[lumbar vertebræ]]. A fifth pair, small in size, is occasionally present: they arise from the [[middle sacral artery]]. They run lateralward and backward on the bodies of the [[lumbar vertebræ]], behind the [[sympathetic trunk]], to the intervals between the adjacent [[transverse processes]], and are then continued into the abdominal wall. The arteries of the right side pass behind the [[inferior vena cava]], and the upper two on each side run behind the corresponding [[crus]] of the [[diaphragm (anatomy)|diaphragm]]. The arteries of both sides pass beneath the [[tendinous arches]] which give origin to the [[Psoas major]], and are then continued behind this muscle and the [[lumbar plexus]]. They now cross the [[Quadratus lumborum]], the upper three arteries running behind, the last usually in front of the muscle. At the lateral border of the Quadratus lumborum they pierce the posterior aponeurosis of the [[Transversus abdominis]] and are carried forward between this muscle and the [[Obliquus internus]]. They anastomose with the [[lower intercostal]], the [[subcostal]], the [[iliolumbar]], the [[deep iliac circumflex]], and the [[inferior epigastric]] arteries. ==Additional images== <gallery> Image:Gray1120.png|The relations of the viscera and large vessels of the abdomen. </gallery> ==External links== * {{eMedicineDictionary|lumbar+arteries}} * {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|40|11|02|01}} - "Branches of the Abdominal Aorta" * {{UMichAtlas|abdo_wall75}} - "The Abdominal Aorta" * {{SUNYAnatomyFigs|40|05|07}} - "Parietal and visceral branches of the abdominal aorta." {{Gray's}} {{circulatory-stub}} {{Arteries of thorax and abdomen}}