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Ileocecal Valve
A valve is a natural structure or man-made device in a
passageway, tube, vessel, or hollow organ that allows
fluid or partly fluid contents to travel in one direction, but
closes to prevent the flow of those contents in the
opposite direction. The ileocecal valve is a type of
sphincter muscle. A sphincter is a muscle that forms a
circle around a tube, natural opening, or duct in the
body. A duct is a tube that allows fluids and/or
substances to pass through it. The ileocecal valve
connects the ileum of the small intestine and the cecum
of the large intestine. The intestine is a tube shaped
structure that is part of the digestive tract.
FEATURED BOOK: Creating a Healthy Balance in the Ileocecal Valve
The intestine is divided into two main sections: the small intestine and the large intestine.
The small intestine takes in all of the nutrients (healthy substances) that the body needs.
The ileum is the last, longest, and narrowest of the three parts that make up the small
intestine. The large intestine absorbs moisture from the matter that is left, and excretes
the waste (i.e., feces) from the anus. Excrete means to release from the body as waste.
The cecum is the first part of the large intestine.
WHAT DOES THE ILEOCECAL VALVE LOOK LIKE?
The ileocecal valve has two flaps that go into the tube-shaped space of the large
intestine, immediately above the vermiform appendix.
"Where Medical Information is Easy to Understand"™
The vermiform appendix is a wormlike structure that extends from
the first part of the large intestine. In living people, the ileocecal
valve looks like a shortened cone, with a star shaped opening. In
dead people, the ileocecal valve looks like a two-lipped structure.
WHAT DOES THE ILEOCECAL VALVE DO?
Food normally travels from the small intestine to large intestine. The
ileocecal valve prevents food from reentering the small intestine
once it gets to the large intestine. In other words, it prevents the
food from traveling backwards, from the large intestine to the small
intestine. In ileocecal valve disorder, the function of the ileocecal
valve can be impaired due to irritation.
WHAT ELSE IS THE ILEOCECAL VALVE KNOWN AS?
The ileocecal valve is also known as the ileocecal papilla, papilla ilealis, valva ileocecalis, Bauhin valve,
ileocecal eminence, ileocolic valve, Tulp valve, valve of Varolius, and the Tulpius valve.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM "ILEOCECAL VALVE"?
Ileocecal valve comes from the Latin word "ileum" meaning "intestine," the Latin word "caecus" meaning
"blind," and the Latin word "valvarum" meaning "folding door." Put the words together and you have "blind
intestine folding door."
