The pancreatic duct, or duct of Wirsung (also, the Major pancreatic duct due to the existence of an accessory pancreatic duct

Accessory pancreatic duct

Most people have just one pancreatic duct. However, some have an additional accessory pancreatic duct also called the Duct of Santorini, which connects straight to the duodenum at the minor duodenal papilla...

), is a duct joining the pancreas

Pancreas

The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...

 to the common bile duct

Common bile duct

The common bile duct is a tube-like anatomic structure in the human gastrointestinal tract. It is formed by the union of the common hepatic duct and the cystic duct . It is later joined by the pancreatic duct to form the ampulla of Vater...

 to supply pancreatic juices which aid in digestion

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....

 provided by the "exocrine pancreas". The pancreatic duct joins the common bile duct

Common bile duct

The common bile duct is a tube-like anatomic structure in the human gastrointestinal tract. It is formed by the union of the common hepatic duct and the cystic duct . It is later joined by the pancreatic duct to form the ampulla of Vater...

 just prior to the ampulla of Vater, after which both ducts perforate the medial side of the second portion of the duodenum

Duodenum

The duodenum is the first section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. In fish, the divisions of the small intestine are not as clear and the terms anterior intestine or proximal intestine may be used instead of duodenum...

 at the major duodenal papilla

Major duodenal papilla

The common bile duct and the pancreatic duct together perforate the medial side of the second portion of the duodenum obliquely, some 7 to 10 cm below the pylorus, forming a structure called the major duodenal papilla....

.

The duct of Wirsung is named after its discoverer, the German anatomist Johann Georg Wirsung

Johann Georg Wirsung

Johann Georg Wirsung was a German anatomist who was a long-time Prosector in Padua.He is remembered for the discovery of the pancreatic duct during the dissection of a man who had been recently hanged for murder...

 (1589–1643).

Accessory pancreatic duct

Most people have just one pancreatic duct. However, some have an additional accessory pancreatic duct

Accessory pancreatic duct

Most people have just one pancreatic duct. However, some have an additional accessory pancreatic duct also called the Duct of Santorini, which connects straight to the duodenum at the minor duodenal papilla...

, called the Duct of Santorini.

Clinical significance

Compression, obstruction or inflammation of the pancreatic duct may lead to acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis or acute pancreatic necrosis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas. It can have severe complications and high mortality despite treatment...

. The most common cause for obstruction is choledocholithiasis, or gallstone

Gallstone

A gallstone is a crystalline concretion formed within the gallbladder by accretion of bile components. These calculi are formed in the gallbladder, but may pass distally into other parts of the biliary tract such as the cystic duct, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, or the ampulla of...

s in the common bile duct

Common bile duct

The common bile duct is a tube-like anatomic structure in the human gastrointestinal tract. It is formed by the union of the common hepatic duct and the cystic duct . It is later joined by the pancreatic duct to form the ampulla of Vater...

. Obstruction can also be due to Duodenal Inflammation in Crohn's Disease http://www.gastro.org/user-assets/html/eDigest/2005/December/1/120105.htm. A gallstone may get lodged in the constricted distal end of the ampulla of Vater, where it blocks the flow of both bile

Bile

Bile or gall is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the process of digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum...

 and pancreatic juice

Pancreatic juice

Pancreatic juice is a liquid secreted by the pancreas, which contains a variety of enzymes, including trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, elastase, carboxypeptidase, pancreatic lipase, and amylase....

 into the duodenum. Bile backing up into the pancreatic duct may initiate pancreatitis.

Pancreatic ductal carcinoma

Pancreatic ductal carcinoma

Pancreatic ductal carcinoma is a form of pancreatic cancer of the pancreatic duct.An association with p16INK4a has been identified.It is one of the leading causes of cancer death.-References:...

 is a common form of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

.