Common iliac vein
Vena iliaca communis
Definition
The common iliac veins are formed by the union of the external iliac vein and internal iliac vein, in front of the sacroiliac articulation; passing obliquely upward toward the right side, they end upon the fifth lumbar vertebra, by uniting with each other at an acute angle called union of common iliac veins, to form the inferior vena cava.
The right common iliac is shorter than the left, nearly vertical in its direction, and ascends behind and then lateral to its corresponding artery.
The left common iliac, longer than the right and more oblique in its course, is at first situated on the medial side of the corresponding artery, and then behind the right common iliac.
Each common iliac receives the iliolumbar, and sometimes the lateral sacral veins. The left receives, in addition, the median sacral vein.
No valves are found in these veins.
References
This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).
