Variations in Origin of Gastroduodenal Artery: A Cadaveric Study.

ABSTRACT

Background: Gastroduodenal artery (GDA) is usually the first branch of the common hepatic artery from celiac trunk. In patients with chronic pancreatitis visceral artery aneurysms, incidence of up to 10% has been reported. The aneurysms occur most frequently in the splenic artery (10.4%); the common hepatic, gastroduodenal (1.5%), and pancreaticoduodenal arteries are affected. Material and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of General Surgery and Forensic Medicine, N.S.C.B. Medical College, Jabalpur during the period from August 2012 to August 2013. Abdomen of the cadaver will be accessed by the standard postmortem midline incision (sternum to pubes). Vascular anatomy of the GDA and vein will be dissected out in-situ using standard surgical instruments. The distance from the pylorus to the GDA will be measured by measuring tape. Results: In our study, out of total 31 cadavers, 19 (61.2%) were of male and 12 (38.8%) were of females. In all the cases, the site of origin of GDA is from the celiac axis of the common hepatic artery. Out of total 19 male cadavers, 17 (89%) showed a distance of 2.5-3 cm between pylorus and GDA and remaining 2 (11%) showed a distance of 3-3.5 cm. Conclusion: In our study, GDA has been seen arising from common hepatic artery from the celiac axis in 100% of cases. Previous studies have also given very less percentage of rare sites of origin but with the advent of newer modalities of investigations such as Doppler studies and computed tomography angiograms this very less percentage of rare variations can be diagnosed if there are knowledge and suspicion. This will help a lot to prevent major catastrophe during surgeries and radiological interventions.