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Regional Lymph Nodes
There are between 100 and 150 lymph nodes in the mesentery of the colon. Regional lymph nodes are the nodes along the colon, plus the nodes along the major arteries that supply blood to that particular colon segment.
| Segment | Regional Lymph Nodes |
|---|---|
| Cecum | Pericolic, anterior cecal, posterior cecal, ileocolic, right colic |
| Ascending colon | Pericolic, ileocolic, right colic, middle colic |
| Hepatic flexure | Pericolic, middle colic, right colic |
| Transverse colon | Pericolic, middle colic |
| Splenic flexure | Pericolic, middle colic, left colic, inferior mesenteric |
| Descending colon | Pericolic, left colic, inferior mesenteric, sigmoid |
| Sigmoid colon | Pericolic, inferior mesenteric, superior rectal, superior hemorrhoidal, sigmoidal, sigmoid mesenteric |
| Rectosigmoid | Perirectal, left colic, sigmoid mesenteric, sigmoidal, inferior mesenteric, superior rectal, superior hemorrhoidal, middle hemorrhoidal |
| Rectum | Perirectal, sigmoid mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, lateral sacral, presacral, internal iliac, sacral promontory (Gerota's) superior hemorrhoidal, inferior hemorrhoidal |
| Anus | Perirectal, anorectal, superficial inguinal, internal iliac, hypogastric, femoral, lateral sacral |
Lymph nodes along a "named vascular trunk" (as defined by the fourth edition of the AJCC staging manual) are those along a vein or artery that carries blood to a specific part of the colon, for example, the inferior and superior mesenteric arteries, sigmoidal artery, left or right colic artery. In the fifth and sixth editions, the location of the nodes does not affect assignment of the N category.
