Scientists have long known about the mesentery, a structure that connects the intestine to the abdomen, but it has been considered a fragmented structure comprised of several different parts.
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Until now.
New research from a University of Limerick surgeon classifies the mesentery as its own organ, a move that could change the way doctors diagnose and treat abdominal disease.
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"Now we have established anatomy and the structure. The next step is the function," Professor J Calvin Coffey said in a news release.
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"If you understand the function, you can identify abnormal function, and then you have disease. Put them all together and you have the field of mesenteric science...the basis for a whole new area of science," he added.
Classifying the mesentery as a separate organ could help make surgeries less invasive and improve patient recovery times.
The new research has even prompted an update to the Gray's Anatomy textbook.