1. A surgical communication made between blood vessels, for example, between the portal vein and the inferior vena cava.

2. An opening created by surgery, trauma, or disease between two or more normally separate spaces or organs.

1. The union or intercommunication of parts or branches, such as blood vessels, streams, or leaf veins. Also known as inosculation.

2. A network of parts or branches created by the process of anastomosis.