Anatom3DAbdominal wall
Paries abdominis · Břišní stěna
Muscles
Looks like
Four sheets of muscle in layers, meeting in a midline seam, lined by fat and skin.
What it does
Holds the organs in, bends and twists the trunk, and raises pressure for coughing and straining.
Keeping it well
Core strength, lifting properly, weight control. A bulge that appears on straining is a hernia.
Its parts
- Rectus abdominis
- External oblique
- Internal oblique
- Transversus abdominis
- Linea alba & rectus sheath
- Inguinal canal
- Peritoneum
- Visceral fat
- Anterior abdominal wall
- Posterior abdominal wall
- Pelvic wall
- Bony pelvis
- Musculature of abdomen
- Lateral sacral vein
- Diaphragmatic fascia
- Iliopsoas fascia
- Investing abdominal fascia
- Pyramidalis muscle
- Transversalis fascia
Related conditions
- Acromegaly
- Acute mesenteric ischaemia (gut stroke)
- Botulism
- Bowel obstruction
- Chronic venous insufficiency
- Cirrhosis
- Clotting disorders (thrombophilia & APS)
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Fibromyalgia
- Fractures
- Fragility fracture
- Frailty & falls in older age
- Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
- Hernia (inguinal, hiatal, umbilical)
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
- Mesothelioma
- Metabolic fatty liver disease (MASLD)
- Metabolic syndrome
- Muscular dystrophy
- Obesity
- Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
- Osteomalacia & rickets
- Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
- Osteoporosis
- Ovarian cancer
- Paget's disease of bone
- Peritonitis
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Rhabdomyolysis
- Sarcoma
- Sarcopenia
- Tetanus
- Type 2 diabetes
- Undescended testis (cryptorchidism)
- Varicose veins
- Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
- Vitamin D deficiency