Descending colon

Descending colon
Drawing of colon seen from front (descending colon coloured blue)
Front of abdomen, showing surface markings for liver, stomach and great intestine (descending colon visible at center right, in 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 [edit on Wikidata]

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.