DIRECTIONAL TERMS

Its necessary to have special words to talk about the position or location of organs and
parts and to talks abaou the direction in te human body. The words ‘left’and ‘right’ , ‘back’
and ‘front’ are not spesific enough. The directional terms used refer to the body in the
anatomic position. Three imaginary planes are used to describe the structural plan of the body
and the anatomic relationship of one part to another.
A. Directional Terms
Directional terms describe the positions of structures relative to other structures or
locations in the body.
Anatomical directional terms are like the directions on a compass rose of a map.
Like the directions, North, South, East and West, they can be used to describe the
locations of structures in relation to other structures or locations in the body. This is
particularly useful when studying anatomy as it provides a common method of
communication that helps to avoid confusion when identifying structures.
Also as with a compass rose, each directional term often has a counterpart with
converse or opposite meaning. These terms are very useful when describing the
locations of structures to be studied in dissections.
Below are examples of some commonly used anatomical directional terms and
planes of the body.
1. Anterior /ventral = front (example, the kneecap is located on the anterior side of
the leg).
2. Posterior/dorsal = back (example, the shoulder blades are located on the
posterior side of the body).
3. Distal = away from or farthest from the trunk or the point or origin of a part
(example, the hand is located at the distal end of the forearm).
4. Superior/cranial = toward the head end of the body; upper (example, the hand is
part of the superior extremity).
5. Inferior/caudal = away from the head; lower (example, the foot is part of the
inferior extremity).
6. Medial = toward the midline of the body (example, the middle toe is located at
the medial side of the foot).
7. Lateral = away from the midline of the body (example, the little toe is located at
the lateral side of the foot).
8. Proximal = toward or nearest the trunk or the point of origin of a part (example,
the proximal end of the femur joins with the pelvic bone).
B. Planes of the Body
Anatomical directional terms can also be applied to the planes of the body. Body
planes are used to describe specific sections or regions of the body.
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.
1. Lateral Plane or Sagittal Plane: A vertical plane running from front to back;
divides the body or any of its parts into right and left sides
a. Median or Midsagittal Plane: Sagittal plane that divides the body into equal
right and left regions.
b. Parasagittal Plane: Sagittal plane that divides the body into unequal right
and left regions
 2. Transverse Plane or Axial Plane: A horizontal plane; divides the body or any of
its parts into upper(superior) and lower(inferior) parts.
3. Frontal Plane or Coronal Plane: A vertical plane running from side to side;
divides the body or any of its parts into anterior and posterior portions.

C. Body Cavities
A cavity is any holow space. Body cavities are areas which confine organs and
systems that have related functions. The 2 major body cavities are dorsal cavity and
the vetral cavity.
1. The Dorsal Cavity is combination the cranial cavity (containing the brain) and
the spinal cavity (containing the spinal cord).
a. Cranial cavity = the space occupied by the brain, enclosed by the skull bones.
 b. Spinal cavity = the space occupied by the spinal cord enclosed by the
vertebrae column making up the backbone. The spinal cavity is continuous
with the cranial cavity.
2. The Ventral Cavity is divided into 3 parts : the thoracic cavity, the abdominal
cavity and the pelvic cavity. The abdominal and pelvic cavities together are called
the abdominopelvic cavity.
a. Thoracic cavity = the space occupied by the ventral internal organs superior
to the diaphragm.
b. Abdominal cavity = the space occupied by the ventral internal organs
inferior to the diaphragm and superior to the pelvic cavity.
c. Pelvic cavity = the space occupied by the ventral internal organs that are
bordered by the bones of the pelvic girdle
 Abdominopelvic cavity = the abdominal cavity and the pelvic cavity in
combination.

D. Clinical Division of the Abdomen

1. Abdominopelvic Quadrants
To imagine drawing a vertical line straight up and down the body and then a
horizontal line straight through the middle of the cavity. This results in four equal
sized sections called quadrants.
Remember to view the quadrants based on the point-of-view of the body
quadrants of the body.
a. The quadrants on the top are the:
 Left upper quadrant (LUQ), which contains the small part of the liver,
left kidney, stomach, spleen, pancreas and left half of transverse colon.
  Right upper quadrant (RUQ), which contains a large portion of the
liver, right kidney, the bottom end of the stomach, gallbladder and the
right half of the transverse colon.
b. The lower quadrants are the:
 Left lower quadrant (LLQ) houses the left side of the small intestines,
left ureter and left ovary (in females).
 Right lower quadrant (RLQ) houses the ascending colon, right side of
the small intestines, right ureter, and right ovary (in females).

2. Abdominopelvic Regions
In the abdominopelciv quadrants are a bunch of regions that break this cavity
down even more. Sabrina says she remembers a little about the regions because it
looked like a tic-tac-toe board drawn over the cavity. There are nine regions to
study.
There are nine regions used to divide the abdominopelvic cavity.
Abdominopelvic regions.
a. The regions on the top are the:
 The top left is the left hypochondriac region, where you'll find the left
half of the stomach and spleen.
  The top center is the epigastric region, which is the location for the
large portion of the liver, gallbladder, right half of the stomach, pancreas
and kidneys.
 The top right region is the right hypochondriac region, where you'll
find the right portion of the liver.
b. The regions on the middle are the :
 The middle left section is the left lumbar region, where the descending
colon and a small portion of the small intestines are found.
 The center region is the umbilical region, which contains the transverse
colon, small intestines and ureters.
 The middle right portion is the right lumbar region, where the
ascending colon is located.
c. The regions on the lower are the :
 The left lower square is the left iliac region, also called the left inguinal
region. A very small portion of the small intestines and lowest part of the
descending colon are found in this region.
 The middle lower section is the hypogastric region, where the lower
portion of the small intestines, bladder, rectum and uterus and ovaries (in
females) are located.
 The bottom right square is the right iliac region. Also called the right
inguinal region in this region is a very small portion of the beginning of
the colon.