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

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

5. 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

6. 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

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

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

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

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

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

12. Anterior/Ventral Posterior/Dorsal

13. 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

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

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

16. 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)

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

18. 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

19. THORACIC CAVITY
Heart, lungs
bronchial tubes,
trachea, esophagus

20. THORACIC CAVITY

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

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

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

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

25. ABDOMINAL REGIONS-(9)

26. 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

27. 3 Small Cavities
Orbital-eyes
Nasal-nose structures
Buccal-mouth

28. 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?

29. STAB WOUND
What is the location of this stab wound?

30. STAB WOUND

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

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

33. Image Citations
Slide 3: 8/27/06,
Slide 4: Sagittal plane, 8/27/06,
Slide 5: Frontal plane, 8/27/06,
Slide 7 & 9 &12: Directional terms, 8/27/06,
Slide 8: Anatomical terms, planes, 8/27/06,

34. Image Citations
Slide 11: photo of a dog illustrating dorsal, ventral, anterior and posterior, 8/27/06,
Slide 14: Body cavities, 8/31/06,
Slide 16, 17: Delmar Learning’s Medical Terminology Image Library, Second Edition, Version 1.0, 2003.