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Gallbladder |
| Gall Bladder | |
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| Gall bladder is #5 | |
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| Diagram of Stomach | |
| Latin | vesica fellea |
| Gray's | subject #250 1197 |
| System | Digestive system (GI Tract) |
| Artery | Cystic artery |
| Vein | Cystic vein |
| Nerve | Celiac ganglia, vagus1 |
| Precursor | Foregut |
The gallbladder (or cholecyst, sometimes gall bladder) is a small non-vital organ which aids in the digestive process and stores bile.
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The cystic duct connects the gall bladder to the common hepatic duct to form the common bile duct. This common bile duct then joins the pancreatic duct, and enters through the hepatopancreatic ampulla at the major duodenal papilla.23
The fundus of the gallbladder is the part farthest from the duct, located by the lower border of the liver 4. It is at the same level as the transpyloric plane.
The different layers of the gallbladder are as follows:
Section References5
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008) |
The gallbladder stores about 50 mL (1.7 US fluid ounces / 1.8 Imperial fluid ounces) of bile, which is released when food containing fat enters the digestive tract, stimulating the secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK). The bile, produced in the liver, emulsifies fats and neutralizes acids in partly digested food.
After being stored in the gallbladder the bile becomes more concentrated than when it left the liver, increasing its potency and intensifying its effect on fats. Most digestion occurs in the duodenum.
Vertebrates have gallbladders (except the horse and the rat), but invertebrates don't. This is because vertebrates eat in boluses while invertebrates are constantly eating. To digest a large bolus of food requires a large amount of digestive secretions, hence the presence of a gallbladder.
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