Fig. 3

The anomalous branching pattern of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) supplying the PDM. a The IMA supplying the normal sigmoid colon. b The IMA supplying the descending and sigmoid colon with PDM. c The IMA supplying the surgically mobilized descending and sigmoid colon. Because the mesentery of the colon containing the LCA is shortened, the cut LCA (shown by the blue dotted line) has a risk of injury of the marginal artery (*). In contrast, the blue line shows the SRA cut preserving LCA which can avoid injury of the marginal artery. IMA, inferior mesenteric artery; LCA, left colonic artery; SRA, superior rectal artery; S, sigmoid colonic artery