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.
