Blood and Nerve Supply of the Digestive System (Nursing)

00:01 So now let's look at the blood circulation that occurs in our digestive organs.

00:07 The arteries that branch off of the aorta are going to serve the digestive organs and their referred to as splanchnic arteries.

00:16 These include the hepatic, the splenic, and the left gastric artery.

00:23 And also the inferior and superior mesenteric arteries.

00:29 Blood leaving from digestive circulation is going to enter into hepatic portal circulation.

00:37 This is going to drain the nutrient-rich blood that is returning from our digestive organs and deliver that blood to the liver for processing.

00:49 So now let's look at how the GI tract is innervated.

00:54 The GI tract has its own nervous system.

00:57 And this is referred to as the enteric nervous system or the gut brain.

01:03 The gut brain is made up of enteric neurons that communicate extensively with each other.

01:10 They contain more neurons than the spinal cord and are the major nerve supply to the GI tract wall that controls motility of the GI tract.