During a scheduled laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a 47-year-old female patient, the resident accidentally clamped the hepatoduodenal ligament instead of the cystic artery. Which of the following vessels would most likely be occluded in this iatrogenic injury?

The proper hepatic artery is the only artery typically within the hepatoduodenal ligament and therefore would be occluded. This artery lies within the right anterior free margin of the omental (or epiploic) foramen (of Winslow). The superior mesenteric artery branches from the abdominal aorta inferior to the hepatoduodenal ligament. The splenic artery runs behind the stomach and is not located in the hepatoduodenal ligament. The common hepatic artery gives origin to the proper hepatic artery but does not run within the hepatoduodenal ligament. The inferior vena cava is located at the posterior margin of the omental foramen and therefore would not be clamped.