Answer to Gretzky’s Sweet Sweep Check
Correct answer is A, the duodenal cap (ampulla). The duodenum consists of four parts, the dilated cap or ampulla, the descending part, the inferior and the ascending part. Only the cap is intraperitoneal. Hence, in the image, the peritoneum was removed to demonstrate the duodenal sweep. Also the stomach has been dissected away, including its antrum. The gastroduodenal artery runs posterior to the duodenal cap. If the interior lining of the duodenum is eroded away by an ulcer, stomach acids can leak out and destroy the gastroduodenal artery. This becomes a medical emergency and patients will exsanguinate unless they receive wise and immediate treatment.
= Duodenal cap
= Descending (2nd part)
= Inferior (3rd part)
= Ascending (4th part)
= 1st part of jejunum
Answer to this question is based on material presented in lectures 7 of the Abdomen Lecture Series.
