A patient is admitted from the emergency depament following a large-volume haematemesis. Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy is performed, which identifies a posteriorly positioned duodenal ulcer that is actively bleeding. The vessel responsible is

Detailed knowledge of the aerial supply of the stomach is not required for undergraduate exams, however ceain facts should be remembered. All the blood supply to the stomach is derived from the coeliac plexus, which branches from the abdominal aoa at the level of T12. The lesser curve is supplied by the right and left gastric vessels, the greater curve by the right and left gastroepiploic vessels. The right gastroepiploic aery is a branch of the gastroduodenal aery. The gastroduodenal aery passes underneath the first pa of the duodenum, closely associated with its posterior wall; it is this vessel which classically causes major haemorrhage in the event of posterior erosion by a duodenal ulcer.