The pancreas

The pancreas is part of the digestive system. It produces a fluid that helps to digest food (pancreatic juice) and a hormone that enables the body to use sugars and store fats (insulin).

The pancreas lies in the upper half of the abdomen, well above the tummy button (navel), on a level with the V where the ribs meet at the front. It’s deep inside the abdomen, lying just in front of the spine. It is about 15cm (6 inches) long.

The large rounded section on the right-hand side of the body is called the head of the pancreas, the middle part is known as the body of the pancreas and the narrow part on the left-hand side of the body is called the tail of the pancreas. The head of the pancreas lies next to the first part of the small intestine, which is called the duodenum.

The digestive juices produced by the pancreas flow down a tube (the pancreatic duct) into the duodenum. The bile duct drains bile from the liver, into the duodenum, and joins the pancreatic duct at the sphincter of Oddi just as it enters the duodenum.

The position of the pancreas