- Anastomosis
- : The connection of normally separate parts or spaces so they intercommunicate. An anastomosis may be naturally occurring or artificially constructed and be created during the process of embryonic development or by surgery, trauma or pathological means. An anastomosis may, for example, connect two blood vessels (as in a naturally occurring arteriovenous anastomosis, a connection between an artery and a vein) or it may connect the healthy sections of the colon or rectum after a cancerous or otherwise diseased portion has been surgically removed. A gastrojejunal anastomosis connects the stomach directly with the jejunum. The term "anastomosis" comes straight from the Greek. It originally referred to an opening or junction through a mouth as of one body of water with another. Anastomosis has been in medical usage since the Greek physician Galen (129-200 AD) used it to describe the interconnections between blood vessels. The plural is anastomoses.
* * *1. A natural communication, direct or indirect, between two blood vessel s or other tubular structures. See communication. 2. An operative union of two structures ( e.g., vessels, ureters, nerves). 3. An opening created by surgery, trauma, or disease between two or more normally separate spaces or organs. [G. a., from anastomoo, to furnish with a mouth]- acromial a. of the thoracoacromial artery [TA] a vascular network between the acromion and the skin of the shoulder, formed by anastomoses of the acromial branch of the suprascapular artery with the acromial branch of the thoracoacromial artery. SYN: rete acromiale arteriae thoracoacromialis [TA], acromial arterial network, acromial plexus.- arteriolovenular a. [TA] vessels through which blood is shunted from arterioles to venules without passing through the capillaries. The term “arteriovenous a.” is widely used, but not preferred, since the connection is between arterioles and venules rather than arteries and veins. SYN: a. arteriolovenularis, a. arteriovenosa, arteriovenous a..- a. arteriolovenularis arteriolovenular a..- a. arteriovenosa SYN: arteriolovenular a..- Béclard a. SYN: ranine a..- bevelled a. a. performed after cutting each of the structures to be joined in an oblique fashion.- Billroth I a. reestablishment of intestinal continuity by a gastroduodenostomy. SEE ALSO: Billroth operation I.- Billroth II a. reestablishment of intestinal continuity by a loop gastrojejunostomy. SEE ALSO: Billroth operation II.- calcaneal a. [TA] a superficial network over the calcaneus, formed by branches of the peroneal and posterior tibial arteries and twigs from the malleolar retia. SYN: rete calcaneum [TA], calcaneal arterial network.- cavopulmonary a. a means of palliating cyanotic heart disease by anastomosing the right pulmonary artery to the superior vena cava. SYN: cavopulmonary shunt, Glenn shunt.- Clado a. a. in the right suspensory ligament of the ovary between the appendicular and ovarian arteries.- conjoined a. the joining together of two small blood vessel s by side-to-side elliptical a. to create a single larger stoma for subsequent end-to-end a..- cruciate a., crucial a. a four-way a. between branches of the first perforating branch of the deep femoral, inferior gluteal, and medial and lateral circumflex femoral arteries, located posterior to the upper part of the femur. Formerly described as common, investigations show it rarely occurs in the four-way “cross” pattern.- cubital a. [TA] vascular networks in the region of the elbow, composed of anastomoses between branches of the radial and middle collateral, superior and inferior ulnar collateral, radial recurrent, interosseous recurrent, and recurrent ulnar arteries. SYN: rete articulare cubiti [TA], articular vascular network of elbow.- Damus-Stancel-Kaye a. SYN: Damus-Kaye-Stancel procedure.- elliptical a. a modification of direct a. whereby one or both tubular structures are spatulated beforehand, thus creating an ellipse of greater cross-sectional as well as circumferential dimension than would be possible with a bevelled or circular a..- end- to-end a. a. performed after cutting each structure to be joined in a plane perpendicular to the ultimate flow through the structures.- genicular a. [TA] an arterial network over the front and sides of the knee, formed by branches of the descending genicular artery, of the five genicular arteries from the popliteal, of the anterior tibial recurrent, and of the fibular circumflex branches of the posterior tibial. SYN: rete articulare genus [TA], articular vascular network of knee.- Hofmeister-Pólya a. See Hofmeister operation, Pólya operation.- intestinal a. SYN: enteroenterostomy.- Martin-Gruber a. a nerve anomaly in the forearm, consisting of a median to ulnar nerve communication; Also referred to as a median-to-ulnar crossover.- patellar a. [TA] the superficial portion of the articular vascular network of the knee. SYN: rete patellare [TA], patellar network.- portacaval anastomoses SYN: portal-systemic anastomoses.- portal-systemic anastomoses 1. naturally-occurring venous communications between tributaries of the portal venous system and tributaries of the systemic venous system. The major portal-systemic anastomoses include: 1) esophageal branches of left gastric vein with esophageal veins, 2) superior rectal vein with middle and inferior rectal veins, 3) paraumbilical veins with subcutaneous veins of anterior abdominal wall, 4) retroperitoneal veins with venous branches of veins of the colon and bare area of the liver, and 5) a patent ductus venosus connecting left branch of portal vein to inferior vena cava (rare). These anastomoses are important clinically, providing collateral circulation during portal obstruction or hypertension, although they may become varicose; See caput medusae, esophageal varices, under varix, hemorrhoids. 2. surgically-created communications between the portal vein and the inferior vena cava or their tributaries, to relieve portal hypertension. SYN: portacaval anastomoses.- precapillary a. an a. between arterioles just before they become capillaries.- precostal a. (pre-kos′-tal) longitudinal a. of intersegmental arteries in the embryo that gives rise to the thyrocervical and costocervical trunks.- pulmonary artery a. a. of the pulmonary artery; 40–50% are associated with congenital heart defects.- ranine a. an a. between the right and the left end-branch of the deep lingual artery. SYN: arcus raninus, Béclard a..- Riolan a. the specific portion of the marginal artery of the colon connecting the middle and left colic arteries. SYN: Riolan arc (3).- Roux-en-Y a. a. of the distal end of the divided jejunum to the stomach, bile duct, or another structure, with implantation of the proximal end into the side of the jejunum at a suitable distance (usually greater than 40 cm) below the first a., the bowel then forming a Y-shaped pattern.- Schmidel anastomoses abnormal channels of communication between the caval and portal venous systems.- sequential a. two or more anastomoses fashioned from a single conduit, e.g., two or more coronary arteries from a single vein graft or mammary artery.- terminoterminal a. an operation by which the central end of an artery is connected with the peripheral end of the corresponding vein, and the peripheral end of the artery with the central end of the vein.- transureteroureteral a. SYN: transureteroureterostomy.- ureteroileal a. a. between the ureter and an isolated segment of ileum. SEE ALSO: Bricker operation.- ureterosigmoid a. a. between the ureter and a segment or entire sigmoid colon. SEE ALSO: ureterosigmoidostomy.
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1 a) a communication between or coalescence of blood vesselsb) the surgical union of parts and esp. hollow tubular parts <\anastomosis of the ureter and colon is surgically practicable>2) a product of anastomosis esp a network (as of channels or branches) produced by anastomosisanas·to·mot·ic -'mät-ik adj* * *
n.1. (in anatomy) a communication between two blood vessels without any intervening capillary network. See arteriovenous anastomosis.2. (in surgery) an artificial connection between two tubular organs or parts, especially between two normally separate parts of the intestine or two blood vessels. See also shunt.* * *
anas·to·mo·sis (ə-nas″tə-moґsis) pl. anastomoґses [Gr. anastomōsis opening, outlet] 1. a connection between two vessels. See also rete. 2. an opening created by surgical, traumatic, or pathological means between two normally separate spaces or organs. Cf. shunt. anastomotic adj
Medical dictionary. 2011.
