Stomach

The stomach is the most dilated part of the digestive tube, and is situated between the end of the esophagus and the beginning of the small intestine. It lies in the epigastric, umbilical, and left hypochondriac regions of the abdomen, and occupies a recess bounded by the upper abdominal viscera, and completed in front and on the left side by the anterior abdominal wall and the diaphragm.

The shape and position of the stomach are so greatly modified by changes within itself and in the surrounding viscera that no one form can be described as typical. The chief modifications are determined by (1) the amount of the stomach contents, (2) the stage which the digestive process has reached, (3) the degree of development of the gastric musculature, and (4) the condition of the adjacent intestines. It is, however, possible by comparing a series of stomachs to determine certain markings more or less common to all.

The stomach presents two openings, two borders or curvatures, and two surfaces.

The opening by which the esophagus communicates with the stomach is known as the cardiac orifice, and is situated on the left of the middle line at the level of the tenth thoracic vertebra. The short abdominal portion of the esophagus (antrum cardiacum) is conical in shape and curved sharply to the left, the base of the cone being continuous with the cardiac orifice of the stomach. The right margin of the esophagus is continuous with the lesser curvature of the stomach, while the left margin joins the greater curvature at an acute angle, termed the incisura cardiaca.

The pyloric orifice communicates with the duodenum, and its position is usually indicated on the surface of the stomach by a circular groove, the duodenopyloric constriction. This orifice lies to the right of the middle line at the level of the upper border of the first lumbar vertebra.