[Fascial-cellular sheath of the superior mesenteric artery and its branches]

Fascial-adipose tissue sheaths of the superior mesentery artery consist of: a proper fibrous tunic separated by a paravasal fissura from the external layer of the arterial wall; an adipose tissue coupling with vascular and nervous plexus--around the vessels, and a fascial case which isolates the adipose tissue coupling from the surrounding adipose tissue. The fascial case is more dense around the trunk and less dense around the branches of the superior mesentery artery. The work presents the data of the development of the fascial-adipose tissue sheaths and their age-dependent changes which result in a considerable exhaustion of these sheaths at an old age, in deposition of adipose tissue between the fascial plates. The thickness of the fascial-adipose tissue sheath of the superior mesentery artery varies, depending on age, from 5 to 12 mm. It is considerably more developed than similar fascial-adipose tissue sheaths of the celiac trunk and the inferior mesentery artery, is of great applied importance for novocain blockade of the paraarterial nervous plexus.