What Is Pancreas?

The Pancreas and Its Functions

The pancreas is a solid gland attached in the back of the abdominal cavity behind the stomach. The pancreas is divided into 5 parts – the head, the uncinate process, the neck, the body and the tail. The head of the gland is closely attached to the duodenum, which is the first part of the small intestine into which the stomach empties liquids and partially digested food. The head of the gland is situated just to the right of the midline of the abdomen and below the right ribcage. The uncinate process is an extension of the lower part of the head of the gland, which surrounds important blood vessels. The body and tail of the pancreas lie at an angle so that the tail of the pancreas is situated beneath the extreme edge of the left rib cage. The tail of the gland is closely attached to the central part of the spleen & splenic blood vessels.

Running behind the neck and uncinate process are many important blood vessels which supply the liver, the rest of the gut organs and the kidneys, including the aorta (an artery) which takes all the blood to the lower abdomen and legs, and the inferior vena cava (a vein) which returns blood from these areas. The splenic vein runs immediately under the tail and body of the pancreas and joins with the portal vein that runs immediately under the neck of the pancreas.

In short, pancreas is a centrally located and very precariously connected to or is in very close contact with most of the important structures in the abdomen. Hence diseases affecting pancreas can inadvertently involve any one or more of these structures. Hence patients with pancreatic problems may not necessarily have pancreatic complaints, but can present with unrelated complaints.

Running along the length of the pancreas within its center is the main pancreatic duct, which empties pancreatic juice into the duodenum. Also running through the middle of the head of the pancreas is the main bile duct, which also empties into the duodenum. (The main bile duct carries bile from the liver where it is made and also from the gallbladder where it is stored). In most people the pancreatic duct and bile duct join together just before they open into the duodenum through a large fleshy nipple called the ampulla of Vater (after the person who described this).

Surrounding the openings of each of these ducts are small muscles that control the release of pancreatic juice and bile and thus act as valves (also called sphincters). There is also a valve that regulates the pancreatic juice and bile together and this sits in the ampulla. This common valve is called the sphincter of Oddi, also named after the man who described this.

About one in ten people have two separate pancreatic ducts, one that opens as normal through the ampulla of Vater and the other through a smaller nipple (called as papilla). For this reason the ampulla of Vater is sometimes called the major papilla and the other smaller opening is called the minor papilla. The pancreatic duct that opens through the minor papilla is called the accessory pancreatic duct (normally this joins the main pancreatic duct rather than opening separately into the duodenum).

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