What Is The Location Of Your Kidneys – The Kidneys lie on both sides of the spine in the retroperitoneal space between the parietal peritoneum and the posterior abdominal wall, well protected by muscles, fat tissue and ribs. They are about the size of your fist. A male kidney is usually slightly larger than a female kidney. The kidneys are well vascularized, they receive about twenty-five percent of the cardiac output at rest. Figure 13.1 shows the position of the kidney.
Figure 13.1 Kidneys. The kidneys are slightly protected by ribs and surrounded by fat for protection (not shown). From Betts, et al., 2013. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Is The Location Of Your Kidneys
An anterior section through the kidney reveals an outer region called the Renal cortex and an inner region called the medulla (see Figure 13.2). The renal columns are extensions of connective tissue that extend downward from the cortex through the medulla to separate the most characteristic features of the medulla, the renal pyramid and the renal papilla. The papillae are bundles of collecting tubules that carry urine produced by the nephrons to the renal calyces for excretion. The renal columns also serve to divide the kidney into 6-8 lobes and provide a supporting framework for vessels entering and exiting the cortex. The pyramids and renal columns together form the kidney lobes.
Your Kidneys & How They Work
The renal hilum is the entry and exit site for the structures that serve the kidneys: vessels, nerves, lymphatic vessels, and ureters. The hila facing medially are drawn into the broad convex outline of the cortex. From the hilum emerges the renal pelvis, which consists of a large and small calyx in the kidney. Smooth muscles in the renal pelvis direct urine through peristalsis into the ureter. The renal arteries arise directly from the descending aorta, while the renal veins return purified Blood directly to the inferior vena cava. The artery, vein and renal pelvis are arranged anteriorly and posteriorly.
The renal artery first divides into segmental arteries, followed by further branching to form the interlobar arteries that pass through the renal columns to reach the cortex (see Fig. 13.3). The interlobar arteries then branch into arcuate arteries, cortical radial arteries, and then into afferent arterioles. Afferent arterioles serve about 1.3 million nephrons in each kidney.
Nephrons are the “functional units” of the kidney; they clean the blood and balance the components of the circulation. Afferent arterioles form a bundle of high-pressure capillaries with a diameter of about 200 µm, a glomerulus. The rest of the nephron consists of a continuous sophisticated tubule whose proximal end surrounds the glomerulus in an intimate embrace – it is Bowman’s (glomerular) capsule. The glomerulus and Bowman’s capsule together form the renal corpuscle. As mentioned earlier, these glomerular capillaries filter the blood based on particle size. After passing through the renal corpuscle, the capillaries form another arteriole, the efferent arteriole (see Figure 13.4). They will then form a capillary network around the more distal parts of the nephron tubules, peritubular capillaries and vasa recta, before returning to the venous system. As the glomerular filtrate progresses through the nephron, these capillary networks collect most of the solutes and water and return them to the circulation.
Figure 13.4. Blood flow in the nephron. The two capillary layers are clearly shown in this image. The efferent arteriole is the connecting vessel between the glomerulus and peritubular capillaries and vasa recta. From Betts, et al., 2013. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Peritubular Capillaries: Location, Anatomy And Function
As urine is formed, it drains into the renal calyces, which join to form a funnel-shaped renal pelvis at the hilum of each kidney. The hilum narrows and becomes the ureter of each kidney. As urine passes through the ureter, it does not flow passively into the bladder, but is moved by peristaltic waves. The ureters are approximately 30 cm long.
The urinary bladder collects urine from both ureters (see Figure 13.5). The urinary bladder lies in front of the uterus in women, behind the pubic bone and in front of the rectum. In men, the anatomy is similar, without the uterus and with the addition of the prostate below the bladder. The bladder is partially retroperitoneal (outside the peritoneal cavity) with its peritoneum-covered “dome” protruding into the abdomen when the bladder is inflated with urine.
Figure 13.5 Urinary bladder. (a) Anterior section of the bladder. (b) Bladder detrusor muscle (source: monkey tissue) LM × 448. (Micrograph provided by Regents of the University of Michigan Medical School © 2012). From Betts, et al., 2013. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. [Image description.]
The urethra carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body for disposal. The urethra is the only urological organ that shows significant anatomical differences between men and women; all other urine transport structures are identical (see Figure 13.6).
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Figure 13.6. Female and male urethra. The urethra carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. This image shows (a) the female urethra and (b) the male urethra. From Betts, et al., 2013. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. [Image description.]
The urethra in both men and women begins inferiorly and centrally from the two ureteral openings forming three points of a triangular-shaped area at the base of the bladder called the trigone (Greek tri- = “triangle” and the root of the word “trigonometry”). The urethra follows posterior and inferior to the pubic symphysis (see Figure 8.6). Urination is regulated by the involuntary internal urinary sphincter controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which consists of smooth muscles and voluntary skeletal muscles that form the external urinary sphincter below them.
Figure 13.2 Image description: Left The left panel of this image shows the position of the kidney in the abdomen. The right panel shows a cross section of the kidney. [Return to Figure 13.2].
Figure 13.5 Image description: The left panel of this image shows a cross-section of the urinary bladder, with the main parts labeled. The right panel shows a photomicrograph of the bladder. [Return to Figure 13.5].
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Figure 13.6 image description: Diagrams of (a) female and (b) male genitalia with prominent urethras. [Return to Figure 13.6].
Medical Terminology: An Interactive Approach Copyright © 2022 by Iana Library Network is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, unless otherwise noted. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located just below the ribcage, one on each side of the spine.
Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing waste and excess water to make urine. Urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin muscular tubes called ureters, one on each side of the bladder. Your bladder stores urine. Your kidneys, ureters, and bladder are part of your urinary tract.
Your kidneys remove waste and excess fluid from your body. Your kidneys also remove acid produced by your body’s cells and maintain a healthy balance of water, salt, and minerals—such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium—in your blood.
Why Are Your Kidneys So Important?
Each of your kidneys is made up of approximately one million filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron includes a filter called a glomerulus and a tubule. Nephrons work through a two-step process: the glomerulus filters your blood, and the tubule returns necessary substances to your blood and removes waste.
Each nephron has a glomerulus for filtering blood and a tubule that returns necessary substances to the blood and removes extra waste. Waste and excess water become urine.
As blood flows into each nephron, it enters a collection of tiny blood vessels – a glomerulus. The thin walls of the glomerulus allow smaller molecules, waste products and fluid – mostly water – to pass into the tubule. Larger molecules, such as proteins and blood cells, remain in the blood vessel.
A blood vessel runs along the tubule. As the filtered fluid moves along the tubule, the blood vessel reabsorbs almost all of the water, along with the minerals and nutrients your body needs. The tubule helps remove excess acid from the blood. The remaining fluid and waste in the tubule becomes urine.
Anatomy Of The Abdominal Viscera: Kidneys, Ureters And Suprarenal Glands
Blood flows to your kidney through the renal artery. This large blood vessel branches into smaller and smaller blood vessels until the blood reaches the nephron. In the nephron, your blood is filtered through the tiny blood vessels of the glomerulus and then flows out of your kidney through the renal vein.
Your blood circulates through your kidneys many times a day. In one day, your kidneys filter about 150 liters of blood. Most of the water and other substances filtered through your glomeruli return to the blood via the tubules. Only 1 to 2 liters become urine. Children produce less urine than adults, and the amount produced depends on their age.
Unfiltered blood flows into the kidneys through the renal artery, and filtered blood exits through the renal vein. The ureter carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases () and other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct and support research on many diseases and conditions.
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