On diseases of the rectum and anus / by Harrison Cripps.

  • William Harrison Cripps
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On diseases of the rectum and anus / by Harrison Cripps. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    distinct transverse slit, its antero-posterior walls being in contact. Dr. Symington thus agrees with Dr. Hart.* The Arteries of the rectum are derived from the superior, middle, and inferior haemorrhoidal, and some¬ times a branch or two from the vesical. Of these, the superior haemorrhoidal is the most important; it is the direct continuation of the inferior mesenteric, and runs down behind the rectum, slightly to the left of the middle line, between it and the sacrum, from about four to four and a half inches from the anus. It then divides into two branches, which almost immediately break up into three or four smaller branches, and run down parallel to one another close to the anal margin. These branches become looped, and anastomose freely with the middle and in¬ ferior haemorrhoidal vessels. The main branches of the superior haemorrhoidal running parallel with the bowel account for the smallness of the haemorrhage from inci¬ sions made in its long axis and the profuseness of the bleed¬ ing from cuts made at right angles to its length. The fact of the lower part of the rectum being chiefly supplied by these branches, which run down in its coats, explains the comparative freedom from bleeding when isolating the lower end of the bowel from its lateral connections. The Veins returning the blood from the anal margin are the middle and inferior haemorrhoidal, the blood from which eventually finds its way into the internal iliac, but the rectum proper returns its blood by the superior haemor¬ rhoidal, from whence the blood passes by the inferior mesenteric to join the portal circulation. The superior haemorrhoidal veins commence close to the anal verge, rather beneath the muco-cutaneous surface than the mucous membrane proper. Some ten or a dozen minute primitive branches starting from little pouch-like dilatations pass up the bowel for an inch or more, gradually converging into five or six larger * “ On some points in the Physics of the Bladder and Rectum,” Edin. Med. Journ.y 1882.