Surgical anatomy of superior mesenteric vessels and its distributaries        XIAO Yi，LU Jun-yang，XU Lai. Department of General Surgery，Peking Union Medical College Hospital，Peking Union Medical College，Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences，Beijing 100730，China
Corresponding author: XIAO Yi，E-mail: xiaoy@pumch.cn
Abstract    Objective    To study the surgical anatomy of superior mesenteric vessels and its distributaries in the pancreaticoduodenal area. Methods    The prospective observational trial included 27 patients performed laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) procedure in order to study the anatomical artery-vein relationships of the ileocolic vessels，right colic vessels，middle colic vessels，and the configurationally relationship of the distributaries to Henle’s trunk. Results    Ileocolic vessels were found in each patient. The probability of right colic artery and vein were 33.3% and 11.1% respectively. The middle colic artery and vein were found at a rate of 88.9% and 92.6% respectively. The length of middle colic artery was 1.9（0 to 7.2）cm. The probability of Henle’s trunk was 92.6%，with the length of 0.8 （0.2 to 2.4）cm. There were 2 to 5 branches drained into Henle’s trunk. Conclusion    Laparoscopic CME procedure should start at dissecting ileocolic vessles，because of its constant location. Getting familiar with the complicated anatomic configuration of pancreaticoduodenal area would be helpful to precisional surgery.