Pancreas

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Description:

The pancreas is a soft, oblong organ lying along the entire posterior surface of the greater curvature of the stomach. Its right pole sits in the concave loop formed by the duodenum and it projects superiorly and to the left to terminate on the left as a tapering tail of the pancreas. It is retroperitoneal in position. The exocrine duct of the pancreas enters the duodenum along with the bile duct from the liver. The organ is both an exocrine gland that secretes the digestive enzyme called pancreatic juice, and an endocrine gland that secretes the hormones insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide.