What is the stomach?

What it is

• The stomach is the most dilated part of the digestive tube, and is situated between the end of the esophagus and the beginning of the small intestine. It lies in the epigastric, umbilical, and left hypochondriac regions of the abdomen, and occupies a recess bounded by the upper abdominal viscera, and completed in front and on the left side by the anterior abdominal wall and the diaphragm.
• The shape and position of the stomach are so greatly modified by changes within itself and in the surrounding viscera that no one form can be described as typical. The chief modifications are determined by (1) the amount of the stomach contents, (2) the stage which the digestive process has reached, (3) the degree of development of the gastric musculature, and (4) the condition of the adjacent intestines.
• It is, however, possible by comparing a series of stomachs to determine certain markings more or less common to all . The stomach presents two openings, two borders or curvatures, and two surfaces.