Overview
The pancreas (pancreas) is a lobulated, pale yellowish gland. Its exocrine part produces pancreatic juice, with digestive enzymes and bicarbonate that neutralises the acid contents arriving from the abomasum; the pancreatic islets, scattered through the parenchyma, form the endocrine part (insulin and glucagon).
Topography and parts
- Body: close to the cranial part of the duodenum and the liver, next to the notch through which the portal vein passes.
- Right lobe: extends caudally in the mesoduodenum, along the descending duodenum, on the right side of the dorsal abdomen.
- Left lobe: crosses the median plane and rests on the dorsal sac of the rumen, to which it is partly attached.
- Pancreatic duct: in cattle usually only the accessory pancreatic duct persists, opening at the minor duodenal papilla, caudal to the opening of the bile duct.
Function in the ruminant
Much of the dietary carbohydrate is fermented in the forestomachs before reaching the intestine, so the pancreas of the adult ruminant mainly digests microbial protein and the nutrients that escape fermentation. In the suckling calf it digests the components of milk that reach the intestine.
Clinical relevance
- Primary disease: pancreatitis and pancreatic neoplasms are uncommon in cattle.
- Diabetes mellitus: rare; it has been linked to islet destruction in some viral infections, such as bovine viral diarrhoea and foot-and-mouth disease.
- Flukes: in some regions Eurytrema pancreaticum lives in the pancreatic ducts and can cause fibrosis.
- Surgical relations: in a right flank laparotomy it lies deep, next to the descending duodenum; adhesions from peritonitis or nearby abscesses can involve it.