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"Caecum" redirects here. For the genus of sea snails, see Caecum (genus). For other taxonomic uses, see List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names.
Not to be confused with sacrum.
Drawing of colon seen from front
(cecum colored red)
Superior ileocecal fossa
(cecum labeled at bottom left)
Precursor Midgut
System Gastrointestinal
Latin Caecum
MeSH A03.556.124.526.209
TA A05.7.02.001
FMA 14541
Anatomical terminology

The cecum or caecum (/ˈskəm/, plural ceca /ˈskə/; from the Latin caecus meaning blind) is an intraperitoneal pouch that is considered to be the beginning of the large intestine. It is typically located on the right side of the body (the same side of the body as the appendix, to which it is joined).

It receives chyme from the ileum, and connects to the ascending colon of the large intestine. It is separated from the ileum by the ileocecal valve (ICV) or Bauhin's valve. It is also separated from the colon by the cecocolic junction. While the cecum is usually intraperitoneal, the ascending colon is retroperitoneal.[1]

In herbivores, the cecum stores food material where bacteria are able to break down the cellulose. This function no longer occurs in the human cecum (see appendix), so in humans it is simply a dead-end pouch forming a part of the large intestine.



The cecum and appendix are formed by the enlargement of the postarterial segment of the midgut loop. The proximal part of the bud grows rapidly to form the cecum. The lateral wall of the cecum grows much more rapidly than the medial wall, with the result that the point of attachment of the appendix comes to lie on the medial side.[citation needed]







Clinical significance[edit]


In animals[edit]

Gastric cecum of dissected cockroach. Scale bar, 2 mm.


Most mammalian herbivores have a relatively large cecum, hosting a large number of bacteria, which aid in the enzymatic breakdown of plant materials such as cellulose; in many species, it is considerably wider than the colon. In contrast, obligatory carnivores, whose diets contain little or no plant material, have a reduced cecum, which is often partially or wholly replaced by the appendix.[3] Mammalian species which do not develop a cecum include raccoons, bears, and the red panda. Over 99% of the bacteria in the gut flora are anaerobes,[5][6][7][8][9] but in the cecum, aerobic bacteria reach high densities.[5]

Many fish have a number of small outpocketings, called pyloric ceca, along their intestine; despite the name they are not homologous with the cecum of amniotes, and their purpose is to increase the overall area of the digestive epithelium.[3] Some invertebrates, such as squid,[10] may also have structures with the same name, but these have no relationship with those of vertebrates.

Additional images[edit]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "The Large Intestine". VideoHelp.com. 
  3. ^ a b c Romer, Alfred Sherwood; Parsons, Thomas S. (1977). The Vertebrate Body. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. pp. 353–54. ISBN 0-03-910284-X. 
  4. ^ Clench, Mary H.; Mathias, John R. (1995). The Avian Cecum: A Review. Ann Arbor, MI: Wilson Bulletin. pp. 93–121, vol. 107(1) March. 
  5. ^ a b Guarner F, Malagelada JR (February 2003). "Gut flora in health and disease". Lancet. 361 (9356): 512–19. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12489-0. PMID 12583961. 
  8. ^ Beaugerie L, Petit JC (April 2004). "Microbial-gut interactions in health and disease. Antibiotic-associated diarrhoea". Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 18 (2): 337–52. doi:10.1016/j.bpg.2003.10.002. PMID 15123074. 

External links[edit]