Cut Section of the Colon

Description

Cut through the large intestine, this sectioned colon exposes the lumen surrounded by mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa, and an outer serosal covering. The mucosal surface is thrown into semilunar folds (plicae semilunares) and lacks villi, with straight tubular intestinal glands (crypts of Lieberkuhn) extending perpendicularly from the luminal surface into the lamina propria. Taeniae coli run longitudinally along the outer wall and gather the circular muscle into haustra, so the bowel wall appears sacculated rather than smooth. Appendix epiploicae may be suggested on the serosal aspect, projecting from the anterior and lateral surfaces. For teaching colon physiology, this cut section helps distinguish what absorption looks like histologically and macroscopically: water and electrolyte recovery occurs across a mucus-coated epithelium rich in goblet cells, not across villous projections as in small intestine. That distinction matters in disease. Ulcerative colitis begins in the rectum and extends proximally within the mucosa and submucosa, while Crohn disease is transmural and often produces deep fissuring that can track through the muscularis into fistulas, a difference you can anchor to the wall layers seen here. Surgeons and endoscopists also orient to these landmarks when describing diverticulosis, where mucosa and submucosa herniate through the muscularis at vasa recta entry points, classically along the sigmoid colon. Use this artwork in gastrointestinal anatomy and histology curricula, colonoscopy training modules that need accurate wall-layer terminology, or medical publishing figures on inflammatory bowel disease and diverticular disease. It also fits patient education materials that explain how the bowel differs from the stomach and small intestine in surface architecture and function. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.