Context: To study morphological Anatomy of splenic artery and its clinical implications. Aims: The present study reports; origin, course, distance of division from the hilum of spleen and branching pattern of splenic artery. Setting and design: Department of Anatomy MGM medical college, navimumbai. Material and method: The measurements were taken on 50 donated embalmed cadavers. The findings were noted after meticulous dissection. Results: The origin of splenic artery is from splenic artery in all cases. In relation to pancreas the splenic artery had suprapancreatic course in 74%followed by anteropancreatic in 18%, intrapancreatic in 6% and retropancreatic in 2%.In two cadavers the stem of the artery divided into two or three branches which has either suprapancreatic or anteropancreatic course. The splenic trunk divided into two primary branches in 84% and three primary branches 16%.Superior polar artery was present in 28%, inferior polar artery was present in 42%and in 12% both superior and inferior polar arteries were seen. The mean distance of the point of division of splenic artery from the hilum was 4.308 cm and minimum was 3.1 cm. It is found that primary branches and polar branches of splenic artery divide the spleen into segments. In our study the segmental branches were 2 in 84% and 3 in 16%. Conclusion: Knowledge of splenic arteryhas the clinical significance in planning and conducting procedures such as partial or total splenectomy, splenic embolisation, splenography and surgical and radiological procedures of upper abdominal region to avoid any complications.

Keywords: Splenic artery; Branching pattern; Hilum; Course; Splenectomy.