Lymphatics of the posterior abdominal wall (English)

Illustration of the posterior abdominal wall and pelvic cavity, with the organs and other structures removed to reveal the lymph nodes and neighboring vessels. In the center of the figure, adjacent to the abdominal aorta, is the cisterna chyli, the main drainage pathway of the posterior abdominal wall. Two trunks converge to form the cisterna chyli: the right lumbar lymph trunk and left lumbar lymph trunk (which usually receives the intestinal lymph trunk). These structures receive the lymph mainly from the lumbar lymph nodes (which are composed of the left lumbar nodes, also known as aortic lymph nodes and the right lumbar nodes, also called caval lymph nodes) as well as the celiac and superior/inferior mesenteric nodes which drain the gastrointestinal tract. Pelvic organs drain to the common, internal and external iliac lymph nodes, which in turn drain to lumbar lymph nodes.