Teniae coli

In the cecum and colon, the longitudinal layer (longitudinal fibers) of muscular layer of colon are especially collected into three flat longitudinal bands, the taeniae coli, each of about 12 mm. in width:

• The mesocolic taenia, is placed posteromedialy along the attached border of the intestine;

• The omental taeni, the anterior and the largest, corresponds along the arch of the colon to the attachment of the greater omentum, but is in front in the ascending, descending, and iliac parts of the colon, and in the sigmoid colon;

• The free taenia or lateral band, is found on the medial side of the ascending and descending parts of the colon, and on the under aspect of the transverse colon.

These bands are shorter than the other coats of the intestine, and serve to produce the sacculi which are characteristic of the cecum and colon; accordingly, when they are dissected off, the tube can be lengthened, and its sacculated character disappears.