Definition
An intestinal loop a piece of the intestine that runs in one twist. The small intestine is up to six metres long and runs from the stomach to the large intestine. It can be divided into duodenum, jejunum and ileum. While the duodenum is C-shaped in the upper abdomen, the jejunum and ileum form numerous intestinal loops due to their length. This means that these sections of the small intestine lie in loops, as the entire length of the intestine must be distributed in the abdomen.
Anatomy of the intestinal loops
The intestinal tube is a muscle tube that reaches from the stomach to the anus. The entire length is up to seven and a half metres. Intestinal loops are found in the jejunum and ileum of the small intestine.
The intestinal walls of the small intestine have a three-layer structure. On the inside there is a mucous membrane, around it a two-layer muscle layer and on the outside a connective tissue cover, the tunica adventitia. Between the muscle layers runs the intestinal nervous system, which determines the movements of the intestine.
The small intestine is also regulated by the vagus nerve, the parasympathetic nerve and the sympathetic nerve. This means that movements take place along the intestinal loops of the small intestine, which transports the chyme towards the large intestine. The intestinal loops are susceptible to certain diseases, such as intestinal obstruction or inflammation in Crohn’s disease.
Function of intestinal loops
The intestinal loops of the small intestine develop in principle by chance and are not subject to any special function. The intestine is very long and has to find its place in the abdominal cavity. As the intestine develops and grows, numerous loops of the intestinal tube, the so-called intestinal loops, are formed by chance.
The formation of the intestinal loops is random and arbitrary. The intestine finds, so to speak, no other way but to coil. The sections of the intestine affected by the formation of the intestinal loops, on the other hand, fulfil extremely important functions.
The empty intestine, the so-called jujunum, is used to break down the food with the help of enzymes. The food components, simple sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, water, vitamins and electrolytes, are absorbed here, i.e. absorbed into the blood. The ileum is the longest section of the intestine, at three metres.
The ileum is also involved in the absorption of nutrients, but is mainly devoted to substances that are not yet absorbed into the blood in the preceding intestinal sections. These include above all electrolytes, vitamins and trace elements. In addition, a reabsorption of bile acids takes place in the last section of the ileum, the so-called terminal ileum. This process is important for the so-called enterohepatic circulation.
