Common iliac vein

Vein: Common iliac vein
Veins of the abdomen and lower limb - inferior vena cava, common iliac vein, external iliac vein, internal iliac vein, femoral vein and their tributaries. The aorta and its bifurcation (unlabeled) appear in red.
Abdominal portion of the sympathetic trunk, with the celiac and hypogastric plexuses. (Common iliac vein labeled at lower right.)
Latin	vena iliaca communis
Gray's	subject #173 677
Drains from	pelvis and lower limbs
Source	external iliac veins and internal iliac veins
Drains to	inferior vena cava
Artery	common iliac arteries

In human anatomy, the common iliac veins are formed by the external iliac veins and internal iliac veins and together, in the abdomen at the level of the fifth lumbar vertebrae^[1], form the inferior vena cava. They drain blood from the pelvis and lower limbs.

Both common iliac veins are accompanied along their course by common iliac arteries.

Additional images

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  Diagram showing completion of development of the parietal veins.

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  The venæ cavæ and azygos veins, with their tributaries.

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  The veins of the right half of the male pelvis.

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  Scheme showing relative positions of primary lymph sacs.

References

1. ^ Henry Gray (1918), Anatomy of the Human Body, pp. 677, http://education.yahoo.com/reference/gray/subjects/subject/173#p677, retrieved 2008-06-15 

External links

• Gray's s173 - "The Veins of the Lower Extremity, Abdomen, and Pelvis"