BODY PLANES, DIRECTIONS, AND CAVITIES
Understanding anatomical directional terms and body
planes will make it easier to study anatomy. It will help you
to be able to visualize positional and spacial locations of
structures and navigate directionally from one area to
another. Another strategy that can be employed to help
you visualize anatomical structures and their positions is to
use study aids such as anatomy coloring books and flash
cards. It may seem a bit juvenile, but coloring books and
review cards actually help you to visually comprehend the
information.
Imagine a person
standing in an upright
position. Now imagine
dissecting this person with
imaginary vertical and
horizontal planes. This is
the best way to describe
anatomical planes.
Anatomical planes can
be used to describe any
body part or an entire
body.
A plane is a two-dimensional surface — its dimensions
are length and width. The body reference planes are
used to locate or describe the location of structures in
the body. These terms are often used to describe
medical imaging such as CAT scans, PET scans and MRIs
where the scans take pictures of the body in flat slices.
Brain scans are often of sagittal plane slices (from ear
to ear). Abdominal CAT scans are often transverse
plane slices (like a stack of coins).
Transverse Plane: Imagine a
horizontal plane that runs through the
midsection of your body. This plane
divides the body into upper (superior)
and lower (inferior) regions.
Frontal Plane or Coronal Plane:
Imagine a vertical plane that runs
through the center of your body from
side to side. This plane divides the
body into front (anterior) and back
(posterior) regions.
Sagittal Plane: Imagine a vertical
plane that runs through your body
from front to back or back to front.
This plane divides the body into right
and left regions.
Midsagittal Plane: Sagittal plane that
divides the body into equal right and
left regions.
Directional Terms:
In general, directional terms are grouped in pairs of opposites based on the standard
anatomical position.
Superior and Inferior. Superior means above, inferior means below. The elbow is superior (above) to
the hand. The foot is inferior (below) to the knee.
Anterior and Posterior. Anterior means toward the front (chest side) of the body, posterior means
toward the back.
Medial and Lateral. Medial means toward the midline of the body, lateral means away from the
midline. Ipsilateral means on the same side—the left arm is ipsilateral (on the same side) to the left
leg.
Proximal and Distal. Proximal means closest to the point of origin or trunk of the body, distal means
farthest away. Proximal and distal are often used when describing arms and legs. If you were
describing the shin bone, the proximal end would be the end close to the knee and the distal end
would be the end close to the foot. In the fingers of the hand, a proximal joint is closest to the wrist
and a distal joint is farthest from the wrist.
Superficial and Deep. Superficial means toward the body surface, deep means farthest from the
body surface.
Cranial and Caudal. Cranial means Towards the head, Caudal means toward the back or tail
Quadrants divide our bodies into regions for
diagnostic and descriptive purposes. The quadrants
are defined by drawing an imaginary line vertically
(top to bottom) and horizontally (sideways) though
the umbilicus (belly button).
Right Upper Quadrant (RUQ) – right lobe of liver,
gallbladder, part of the transverse colon, part of
pylorus, hepatic flexure, right kidney, and
duodenum.
Right Lower Quadrant (RLQ) – cecum, ascending
colon, small intestine, appendix, bladder if
distended, right ureter, right spermatic duct (men),
right ovary and right tube and uterus if enlarged
(women).
Left Upper Quadrant (LUQ) – Left lobe of liver,
stomach, small intestine, transverse colon, splenic
flexure, pancreas, left kidney and spleen.
Left Lower Quadrant (LLQ) – small intestine, left
ureter, sigmoid flexure, descending colon, bladder if
distended, left spermatic duct (men) left ovary and
left tube and uterus if enlarged (women).
Body regions describe areas of the body that have a special function or
are supplied by specific blood vessels or nerves. The most widely used
terms are those that describe the 9 abdominal regions shown in the image
to the right. The regions are named below and the corresponding regions
are labeled 1-9.
Abdominal Regions
right (1) and left (3) hypochondriac regions – on either side of the
epigastric region. Contains the diaphragm, some of the kidneys, right side
of the liver, the spleen and part of the pancreas.
epigastric region (2) – superior (above) the umbilical region and contains
most of the pancreas, part of the stomach, liver, inferior vena cava,
abdominal aorta and duodenum
right (4) and left (6) lumbar (lateral) regions – on either side of the
umbilical region. They contain portions of the large and small intestines
and kidneys.
umbilical region (5) – area around the umbilicus (belly button). Includes
sections of the large and small intestines, inferior vena cava and
abdominal aorta
right (7) and left (9) iliac (inguinal) regions – are on either side of the
hypogastric region and include portions of the large and small intestines.
hypogastric (pubic) (8) region – inferior (below) the umbilical region.
Contains parts of the sigmoid colon, the urinary bladder and ureters, the
uterus and ovaries (women), and portions of the small intestines.
Dorsal Body Cavity
• Cranial Cavity
• Contains the brain
• Spinal (Vertebral)
Cavity
• Bony cavity formed
by the vertebrae of
the spine that
contains and
protects the spinal
cord.
• Thoracic Cavity
• Pleural cavities (2)
• Mediastinum
• Pericardial cavity
• Abdominopelvic Cavity
• Abdominal cavity
• Pelvic cavity
Nose Calf of Leg Ears Umbilicus Fingernails –
Possible answers:
Nasal, navel, Otic, Sural, Digital, gluteal, buccal
• Answers:
• A. Foot
• B. Cheekbone
• C. Chin
• D. Toenails
• E. Skin
• Answer:
• Frontal or Coronal
• Answers to At the Clinic 1
• Antecubital – anterior surface of
elbow
• Deltoid Region – Curve of shoulder
formed by large deltoid muscle, Took
off his shirt
• Sural Region - Calf
• Answers to clinic 2
• Axcillary – Armpit
• Cervical – Neck
• Scapular – Shoulder Blade
• Brachial – Arm bend
•Test next class on ch 7:2
worksheets, Power point,
and body landmarks
•STUDY!!