The lumbar trunks are formed by the union of the efferent vessels from the

lateral aortic lymph nodes The periaortic lymph nodes (also known as lumbar) are a group of lymph nodes that lie in front of the lumbar vertebrae near the aorta. These lymph nodes receive drainage from the gastrointestinal tract and the abdominal organs. The periaortic lym ...

. They receive the

lymph Lymph () is the fluid that flows through the lymphatic system, a system composed of lymph vessels (channels) and intervening lymph nodes whose function, like the venous system, is to return fluid from the tissues to be recirculated. At the ori ...

from the lower limbs, from the walls and viscera of the

pelvis The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an Anatomy, anatomical Trunk (anatomy), trunk, between the human abdomen, abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also c ...

, from the

kidneys In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retro ...

and suprarenal glands and the deep lymphatics of the greater part of the

abdominal wall In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the vi ...

. Ultimately, the lumbar trunks empty into the

cisterna chyli The cisterna chyli or receptaculum chyli (chy·li pronounced: ˈkī-ˌlī) is a dilated sac at the lower end of the thoracic duct in most mammals into which lymph from the intestinal trunk and two lumbar lymphatic trunks flow. It receives fatty ...

, a dilatation at the beginning of the

thoracic duct In human anatomy, the thoracic duct (also known as the ''left lymphatic duct'', ''alimentary duct'', ''chyliferous duct'', and ''Van Hoorne's canal'') is the larger of the two lymph ducts of the lymphatic system (the other being the right lymph ...

References

External links

Overview at uams.edu
Lymphatics of the torso {{lymphatic-stub