Ileocecal valve

The ileocecal valve is the anatomical border structure between the terminal part of the small intestine, called the ileum, and the proximal part of the large intestine, called the cecum. The particular bicuspid conformation of the ileocecal valve in the cadaver - characterized by the presence of two flaps of mucosa that originate from the ileum to protrude, like lips, into the lumen of the large intestine - has led scholars to interpret this structure as a real device According to this theory, now considered by many to be incorrect or at least inaccurate, the ileocecal valve has the dual purpose of:

slowing down, closing, the passage of the ileal content into the cecum, increasing the residence time of the chyme in the ileal site responsible for the absorption of residual nutrients;

allowing, by opening, the inflow of intestinal contents from the small intestine into the large intestine;

preventing, by closing, the reflux of intestinal contents from the large intestine to the small intestine; this is the main function of the valve which - in case of malfunction - is one of the factors responsible for the bacterial contamination syndrome of the small intestine. In fact, the filling of the colon increases the pressure of the cecum and tends to push the fecal material back against the valve flaps, causing their closure.

Hence the name valve. However, some more recent textbooks emphasize how the ileocecal valve as described above is the prerogative of the corpse and does not exist in the living. The aforementioned valve function would be covered not so much by the flaps of the ileocecal valve itself, but by a rounded relief induced by a maniocotto of smooth muscle fibers that form a sort of sphincter, now known as the ileocecal sphincter.