Ileocecal valve
sphincter muscle valve
The ileocecal valve is a sphincter muscle valve that separates the small intestine and the large intestine. Its critical function is to limit the reflux of colonic contents into the ileum. Approximately two liters of fluid enters the colon daily through the ileocecal valve.
Microanatomy
The histology of the ileocecal valve shows an abrupt change from a villous mucosa pattern of the ileum to a more colonic mucosa. A thickening of the muscularis mucosa, which is the smooth muscle tissue found beneath the mucosal layer of the digestive tract. A thickening of the muscularis externa is also noted.
There is also a variable amount of lymphatic tissue found at the valve.
The ileocecal valve has a papillose structure.
Clinical significance
Colonoscopy
During colonoscopy, the ileocecal valve is used, along with the appendiceal orifice, in the identification of the cecum. This is important as it indicates that a complete colonoscopy has been performed.
“Ileocecal valve” enters the record as sphincter muscle valve. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ileocecal, valve and sphincter can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ileocecal valve” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.