| Descending colon | |
|---|---|
 Drawing of colon seen from front (descending colon coloured blue) | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Precursor | Hindgut |
| System | Digestive system |
| Artery | Left colic artery |
| Vein | Left colic vein |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | colon descendens |
| MeSH | D044683 |
| TA98 | A05.7.03.006 |
| TA2 | 2986 |
| FMA | 14547 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
In the anatomy of humans and homologous primates, the descending colon is the part of the colon extending from the left colic flexure to the level of the iliac crest (whereupon it transitions into the sigmoid colon). The function of the descending colon in the digestive system is to store the remains of digested food that will be emptied into the rectum.
The descending colon is on the left side of the body (barring any malformations). The term left colon is hypernymous to descending colon in precise use; many casual mentions of the left colon chiefly concern the descending colon.