Description
The digestive tract is richly vascularized and its capillary network functions to absorb digested fluids and nutrients. During digestion blood flow to the tract increases. The nutrient-rich blood absorbed from the digestive system is drained by veins into the liver via the hepatic portal vein. The superior mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, and splenic veins unite to form the hepatic portal vein.
Within the liver, nutrient rich blood from the digestive system is processed and filtered in the sinusoids. Blood re-enters the systemic circulation via the hepatic veins, which drain directly into the inferior vena cava.
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Vein
A venous sinus is a vein with a thin wall of endothelium that is devoid of smooth muscle to regulate its diameter.
