Body Planes, Directions, & Cavities Med Terms & Principles of Health Science BECKY JACKSON, R.N.

Purpose of Body Planes & Directions To document info about pts., terms have to be used that specify regions or directions of the body Ex: to identify locations of pain or injury, write: 1 cm. laceration on the right anterior forearm, distal to the elbow.

These locations are based on “anatomical position” of the body-the position with the body upright with arms at the sides and the palms forward.

Body Planes Imaginary lines drawn through the body to separate the body into sections Transverse Median or sagittal Frontal or coronal

Transverse plane Horizontal plane that divides the body into a top & bottom half Superior:body parts above other parts Inferior:body parts below other parts Ex:Knee is superior to ankle but inferior to hip

Midsagittal or median plane Divides the body into left and right sides Medial-body parts close to midline or middle Lateral:body parts away from the midline or middle

Frontal (or coronal) plane Divides the body into a front and back section

Cranial (cephalic) vs caudal Cranial: towards the head Caudal: towards the tail

Medial vs lateral Medial: close or towards the midline Lateral: away from the midline

Superior vs inferior Superior: towards the top Inferior: towards the bottom

Anterior vs posterior Anterior or Ventral: towards the front of the body Posterior or Dorsal: towards the back of the body

Anterior/Ventral Posterior/Dorsal

Proximal vs distal Used to describe the location of the extremeties in relation to the main trunk of the body or the point of reference. Body parts close to point of reference-proximal Body parts away from point of reference-distal

Proximal & Distal Example: With the shoulder as the point of reference, the wrist is distal (further away) & elbow is proximal (closer) to shoulder.

Directions Superior vs inferior Cranial vs caudal Medial vs lateral Anterior vs posterior Dorsal vs ventral Proximal vs distal

Body Cavities-Spaces that contain vital organs Dorsal cavity (posterior) Cranial cavity (head) Spinal cavity (spine) Ventral cavity (anterior) Thoracic cavity (chest) Abdomino-pelvic cavity Abdominal cavity Pelvic cavity Orbital cavity (eyes) Nasal cavity (nose) Buccal cavity (mouth)

Dorsal cavity One long continuous cavity-smaller than anterior cavities Cranial cavity(cephalic) contains the brain Spinal cavity: contains the spinal cord

Ventral or Anterior cavity-larger than dorsal cavities Thoracic cavity: contains esophagus, trachea, bronchi, lungs, & heart, lg. blood vessels Abdomino-pelvic cavity Upper Abdominal cavity: stomach, large intestine (colon), small intestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen Lower abdominal-pelvic cavity: urinary bladder, reproductive organs, last part of large intestine Diaphragm: muscle that separates the thoracic cavity from the abdomino-pelvic

THORACIC CAVITY Heart, lungs bronchial tubes, trachea, esophagus

THORACIC CAVITY

DIAPHRAGM The diaphragm is a muscle separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities.

ABDOMINAL CAVITY Contains stomach, small and large intestine, spleen, Pancreas, liver, gallbladder

ABDOMINAL PELVIC CAVITY Portions of small intestine, rectum, urinary bladder, reproductive organs

Abdominal quadrants (4) Four quadrants with the umbilicus at the center RUQ-right upper LUQ-left upper RLQ-right lower LLQ-left lower

ABDOMINAL REGIONS-(9)

Abdominal Regions (9) Right hypochondriac region-below ribs (right) Left hypochondriac region-below ribs (left) Epigastric region-Above stomach area Umbilical region-”belly button” Right lumbar region-near the waist area Left lumbar region-near the waist area Right inguinal (iliac) region-groin Left inguinal (iliac) region-groin Hypogastric region-below stomach area

3 Small Cavities Orbital-eyes Nasal-nose structures Buccal-mouth

If an injury were described as a “posterior cranial laceration,” where would the injury be? If an injury occurred in the LUQ, where would this be?

STAB WOUND What is the location of this stab wound?

STAB WOUND

APPENDECTOMY SCAR How would you describe the location of this scar?

GB SCAR How would you describe the location of this scar?

Image Citations Slide 3: 8/27/06, http://academic.kellogg.cc.mi.us/herbrandsonc/bio201_McKinley/chapter1.htm Slide 4: Sagittal plane, 8/27/06, http://www.tech.nite.go.jp/human/eng/contents/cindex/referencedevelop.html Slide 5: Frontal plane, 8/27/06, http://www.tech.nite.go.jp/human/eng/contents/cindex/referencedevelop.html Slide 7 & 9 &12: Directional terms, 8/27/06, http://www.lrn.org/Graphics/figure1.7.gif Slide 8: Anatomical terms, planes, 8/27/06, http://trc.ucdavis.edu/mjguinan/apc100/modules/termscells&tissues/introduction/planes/planes.html

Image Citations Slide 11: photo of a dog illustrating dorsal, ventral, anterior and posterior, 8/27/06, http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/glossary.htm#bilateral_symmetry Slide 14: Body cavities, 8/31/06, http://www.templejc.edu/dept/biology/RHicks/biol2404Int/biol2404onl_LAB.htm Slide 16, 17: Delmar Learning’s Medical Terminology Image Library, Second Edition, Version 1.0, 2003.