ABSTRACT
THE KIDNEYS The kidneys lie on the posterior abdominal wall on each side of the vertebral column, their hila at the level of L1, the transpyloric plane. Each is about 10 cm long, 5 cm wide and 3 cm thick and weighs about 100 g; they possess upper and lower poles, anterior and posterior surfaces, a lateral convex border, and a medial border whose concavity gives the organ its characteristic shape. Each lies obliquely, its upper pole nearer to the midline than its lower; the liver displaces the right kidney slightly lower than the left (Fig. 8.1).
