The Pancreas and the Sphincter of Oddi

The pancreas is the second largest gland in the human body and plays an important role in the digestive process. It is responsible for the production of insulin that controls the balance of glucose in the body. It also releases the digestive juices and enzymes necessary for digestion into the duodenum, a cavity at the beginning of the small intestine.

The cells of the pancreas secrete enzymes into a network of small ducts that ultimately drain into the pancreatic duct. The pancreatic duct merges with the common bile duct at the Ampulla of Vater. The pancreatic solution mixes with the bile and is forced through a muscular valve called the Sphincter of Oddi. The Sphincter of Oddi functions as a one-way spigot to allow bile and pancreatic juice to enter the upper intestine through the duodenum. The Sphincter of Oddi also prevents the contents of the gut from backing up into either the pancreatic duct or the common bile duct. Read the rest of this entry »