branching part of branching part of vessel supplies blood to large intestine anal canal abdominal aorta median sacral artery http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Gray531.png UBERON:0005464 Middle sacral artery EMAPA:19214 middle sacral artery SCTID:244282005 coccygeal branches arteria sacralis mediana VHOG:0000756 FMA:14757 EHDAA2:0001087 middle sacral EHDAA:2556 Wikipedia:Median_sacral_artery The median sacral artery (or middle sacral artery) is a small vessel, which arises from the back of the aorta, a little above its bifurcation. It descends in the middle line in front of the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebræ, the sacrum and coccyx, and ends in the glomus coccygeum (coccygeal gland). From it, minute branches are said to pass to the posterior surface of the rectum. On the last lumbar vertebra it anastomoses with the lumbar branch of the iliolumbar artery; in front of the sacrum it anastomoses with the lateral sacral arteries, and sends offsets into the anterior sacral foramina. It is crossed by the left common iliac vein, and is accompanied by a pair of venæ comitantes; these unite to form a single vessel, which opens into the left common iliac vein. abdominal aorta artery