Stomach

Stomach
Sections of the human stomach
Scheme of digestive tract, with stomach in red
Details
Precursor	Foregut
System	Digestive system
Artery	Right gastric artery, left gastric artery, right gastro-omental artery, left gastro-omental artery, short gastric arteries
Vein	Right gastric vein, left gastric vein, right gastroepiploic vein, left gastroepiploic vein, short gastric veins
Nerve	Celiac ganglia, vagus nerve[1]
Lymph	Celiac lymph nodes[2]
Identifiers
Latin	ventriculus, stomachus
Greek	στόμαχος
MeSH	D013270
TA98	A05.5.01.001
TA2	2901
FMA	7148
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

Major parts of the
Gastrointestinal tract
Upper gastrointestinal tract Mouth Pharynx Esophagus Stomach Duodenum
Lower gastrointestinal tract Small intestine Jejunum Ileum Large intestine Cecum Appendix Ascending colon Transverse colon Descending colon Sigmoid colon Rectum Anus
See also Gastrointestinal wall Human digestive system Anatomical terminology Outline of human anatomy
v t e

The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach is involved in the gastric phase of digestion, following the cephalic phase in which the sight and smell of food and the act of chewing are stimuli. In the stomach a chemical breakdown of food takes place by means of secreted digestive enzymes and gastric acid.

The stomach is located between the esophagus and the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter controls the passage of partially digested food (chyme) from the stomach into the duodenum, the first and shortest part of the small intestine, where peristalsis takes over to move this through the rest of the intestines.