Colon

Structure and Function

Structure

1.5 metres long, beginning at the caecum, running up the ascending colon which turns at the right colic flexure, at the inferior surface of the right lobe of the liver, along the transverse to the left colic flexure and down the descending, ending in the sigmoid.

Functions

Three main functions:

• To absorb water and electrolytes.
• To store the undigested material until it can be expelled from the body as faeces.
• To break down complex carbohydrates and other nutrients using bacteria.

Arterial and Venous supply

Nervous Supply

Up till the last third of the transverse innervated by the sympathetic and vagal nerves from the superior mesenteric plexus, and the last bit from sympathetic and parasympathetic splanchnic nerves from the inferior mesenteric plexus.