Body Planes, Directions, and Cavities

1. Body Planes, Directions, and Cavities

2. Introduction • to care for patients, you must be able to identify areas of the body for treatments, injections, or diagnoses • directional terms locate a portion of the body or describe a position of the body eg. supine or prone • for examination purposes, patients are either lying face up (supine) or face down (prone)

3. Body Planes • Imaginary lines drawn through body at various parts to separate body into sections • Directional terms are created by these planes • Three main planes: • Transverse • Sagittal (Midsagittal) • Frontal

4. Transverse Plane • Horizontal plane that divides the body into top and bottom parts • Body parts above other parts are called superior • Body parts below other parts are called inferior • ex: knee is superior to ankle, but inferior to hip

5. Sagittal Plane • divides the body into right and left sides • Midsagittal plane divides the body into equal halves • Body parts close to the midline, or plane, are called medial • Body parts away from the midline are called lateral

6. Frontal or Coronal Plane • Divides the body into front and back sections • Body parts in front of plane, or on the front of the body are called anterior • Body parts in back of plane, or on the back of the body are called posterior

7. Other Directional Terms • Proximal: body parts close to the main trunk of the body (generally called the point of reference) • Distal: body parts distant from the point of reference • Superficial: toward the body surface • Deep: away from the body surface

8. BodyCavities • Spaces within body that contain vital organs • Two main body cavities: • Dorsal • One long, continuous cavity located on back of body • Divided into two sections: cranial, which contains the brain, and the spinal cavity, which contains the spinal cord

9. BodyCavities • Ventral • on the front side of the body • Separated into two distinct parts by diaphragm • Thoracic cavity is located in chest and contains heart, lungs and major blood vessels • Abdominal cavity is divided into upper and lower parts • Upper abdominal cavity contains organs of digestive and urinary system • Pelvic cavity contains reproductive organs

10. Abdominal Cavity • Abdominal cavity is so large it is divided into smaller parts • One method is into quadrants (Right Upper Quadrant, Left Upper Quadrant, Right Lower Quadrant, Left Lower Quadrant) • Another method is into regions

11. Abdominal Regions • Center region • Epigastric (above stomach) • Umbilical (near the umbilicus or navel) • Hypogastric (below navel) • Either side of center region • Hypochondriac (below ribs) • Lumbar (near the waist) • Iliac, or inguinal (near the hipbone)

12. Apply your Knowledge A. RUQ B. RLQ C. LUQ D. LLQ Answer: B. RLQ • Loretta complains of abdominal pain. The emergency room physician suspects that she may have appendicitis. • In which of the following quadrants is the appendix located?

13. Apply your Knowledge A. Prone B. Supine Answer: B. Supine • This patient is being examined. Which of the following positions is she in?

14. Apply your Knowledge • Complete the following statements by adding the correct directional terms. • The hands are ________________ to the elbow. • distal • The nose is _______________ to the ear. • medial • The stomach is _____________ to the heart and ________________ to the intestines. • inferior, superior • answers: distal, medial, inferior, superior

15. superficial anterior superior prone medial Apply your Knowledge • deep • posterior • inferior • supine • lateral • What are the opposites for the following directional terms?