Surface area of the digestive tract – revisited

According to textbooks, the human gut mucosa measures 260-300 m(2), that is, in the order of a tennis court. However, the quantitative data are incomplete and sometimes conflicting.

To review the literature regarding the mucosal surface area of the human digestive tract; to collect morphometric data from the parts of the gut where such data are missing; and to recalculate the mucosal surface area of the intestine in man.