Renal Arteries Open Access Articles
The renal artery is a short paired artery that arises from the lateral aspect of the aorta. Its location is in the retroperitoneum, where it courses laterally towards the hilum of the kidney posterior to the renal veins, nerves and the pancreas. The renal artery gives off several small branches before dividing into its terminal anterior and posterior branches in the hilum of the kidney. The function of the renal artery is twofold; it supplies the kidney parenchyma with oxygenated blood, and simultaneously delivers the blood to be filtered by eliminating metabolic wastes and excess water and reabsorbing minerals and nutrients. The renal artery arises perpendicularly from the abdominal aorta just below the branching of the superior mesenteric artery, roughly at the level of the level intervertebral disc between the L1 and L2 vertebrae. The right renal artery, which is slightly longer and higher up than the left one, courses posterior to the inferior vena cava, renal vein, head of the pancreas and second part of the duodenum. The left renal artery courses more horizontally and posterior to the renal vein, the body of the pancreas and the splenic vein. During its extrarenal course, the renal artery most notably gives off one or more inferior suprarenal arteries.
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