• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • TeleConsult
  • About
  • Newsletter/Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Policies

Bone and Spine

Orthopedic health, conditions and treatment

  • General Ortho
  • Procedures
  • Spine
  • Upper Limb
  • Lower Limb
  • Pain
  • Trauma
  • Tumors

Anatomical Position, Planes and Locations

By Dr Arun Pal Singh

In this article
    • Anatomical Position of Human Body
    • Anatomical Planes of Body
    • Anatomical Locations and Relations
      • Medial and Lateral
      • Anterior and Posterior
      • Superior and Inferior
      • Proximal and Distal
    • Terms used in Embryology
    • Various Other Terms of Location and Their Usage
      • Palmar/Dorsal and Plantar/Dorsal
      • Axial
      • Parietal and Visceral
      • Related

Anatomical Position of Human Body

Anatomical position is the basic premise or central tenet, the very core on which all the details of anatomy are based.

Thus, to understand the anatomy of the human body, the anatomical position has always to be remembered.

The anatomical position of the human body is

  • The person standing erect and face forward.
  • Arms are straight along the sides of the trunk with hands held by the hips, palms facing forward
  • Feet parallel and toes pointing forward.
Anatomical position of human body
Anatomical position of the human body

Anatomical Planes of Body

After the anatomical position, planes of the body are crucial to understanding the terminology and relation of the different organs relative to each other.

Just for orientation purposes, a plane is a two-dimensional slice through three-dimensional space. There can be many planes through a given space. For example, vertical plane, horizontal plane, oblique plane. There are infinite possibilities theoretically.

anatomical planes of body

But for purpose of anatomy following planes are important- sagittal, coronal and transverse.

  • Sagittal plane divides the body into two equal halves – left and right.
    • A plane parallel to sagittal plane is called parasagittal plane
    • Parasagittal plane is also called as longitudinal plane
  • Coronal plane divides the body into anterior and posterior section.
  • Transverse plane divides the body into a superior section and a lower inferior section.

For example, to description may say that it is a transverse section of the arm. That means we are looking at the content of the section from above or below.

The transverse section may be referred to as  horizontal section in some labels. Again, the anatomical position comes to our help as for the horizontal section to be understood we know the position of the body and conclude that it is the same as transverse. [a horizontal section of lying person would mean different than standing.]

Anatomical Locations and Relations

Anatomical terms of location
Image credit: Wikipedia

After position and planes, we now move to terms that denote the location and relation of different organs or indicate the direction of motion of a joint.

To avoid any ambiguity, we cannot use terms like left, right, front, back, above or below because they are position-dependent. While head is above neck, it reverses position when one is upside down.

Similarly, the base of the nose is right of the left eye and left or right eye. It fails to describe its position as an absolute anatomical location.

Therefore, we use terms that offer unchanging relations and locations in spite of the position of the body and communicate without faltering or ambiguity.

Thus, the base of the nose is medial to both eyes.

Not only it saves left or right confusion, but it also denotes a symmetrical relation of both eyes to the base of the nose.

In fact, when we address the locations through standard anatomical terms, we can marvel at how the sagittal plane divides the body into two symmetrical halves.

Following terms are used

Medial and Lateral

Medial denotes towards the midline in the sagittal plane. The line denoting the sagittal plane divides the body into right and left halves. This line is called midline.

Medial means towards the midline. Lateral means away from this midline.

As we noted before, the nose is medial to the eye. Therefore eye is lateral to nose.

Take the example of the hand. In anatomical position, the thumb is lateral to the index finger. In fact, the thumb is the most lateral digit and the little finger is the most medial.

The term lateral is also used to indicate the side. For example, in surgical positioning, left lateral position means the patient lies on his left side and the right side is up.

Other meaningful terms are made by adding suffixes

Unilateral – single side. For example a unilateral lesion

Bilateral – Both sides. For example, the disease involves bilateral hips [hips on both sides]

Contralateral – Opposite side. The patient also has an injury to contralateral femur

Ipsilateral – Same side. The patient has an injury to ipsilateral femur and tibia.

Anterior and Posterior

Anterior means front refers to the front, and the posterior refers to the back. Thus the scapula bone is posterior to the thoracic cage.

The tongue is anterior to the pharynx.

Terms ventral and dorsal are also used by medical professionals for anterior and posterior respectively though in humans these are more of embryological terms [see later]

Superior and Inferior

Superior and inferior are terms that describe vertical relations along the vertical lines.

The higher structure is superior and the lower structure is inferior. Thus the nipple is superior to the navel.

Similarly, hips is superior to knee and ankle is inferior to knee in anatomical position.

These terms work very well in axial structures but in limbs, because of their mobility, the relative position will change and the superior-inferior relation may not hold absolutely and lead to a difference in communication. A similar problem also occurs in structures that have a beginning and end, like nerves and vessels.

Therefore, we have another set of terms proximal and distal.

Proximal and Distal

These terms are used in structures which to have a beginning and an end. Limbs, vessels, nerves, and muscles are few such structures.

The proximal and distal describe the position or part of the structure in relation to its origin. Thus proximal means closer to its origin, distal means further from the origin.

The elbow is distal to the shoulder. Toes are distal to ankles etc.

Terms used in Embryology

Let us briefly touch the terms used in embryology too.

  • Cephalic or cranial – towards the head
  • Caudal – towards the tail or inferior end
  • Ventral – Front side of the embryo [anterior]
  • Ventral – posterior or back and Dorsal

In addition to this rostral and caudal are used to describe structures within the central nervous system.

  • The rostral means towards the beak [nose].
  • Caudal refers to the posterior (back) of the head.

Various Other Terms of Location and Their Usage

Palmar/Dorsal and Plantar/Dorsal

To describe hand structures, the following two terms are used.

  • Palmar – describe the front or palmar side of the hand
  • Dorsal – backside of the hand

Examples are palmar fascia, dorsal veins

Similarly, for foot, the terms are plantar and dorsal.

Term volar is also used in place of palmar and plantar.

Thus the volar side of the hand is palmar and the volar side of the foot is plantar.

These terms are more specific and explanatory and avoid confusion of anterior/posterior due to the rotation of the forearm that leads to change in the relative orientation of the hand.

Radial/Ulnar

[In the forearm, to avoid the same confusion, the sides of the forearm are denoted by terms after the bones. The lateral side is radial and the medial side is ulnar. Similarly, the relations can also be described as ulnarward or radialward structures.

In leg, the terms are tibial and fibular, named on the same patterns.]

It must be reiterated that standard anterior-posterior, medial-lateral are used and quite sufficient but because of the prolonged use in literature, the usage still continues especially in clinical specialties. SO it s better to acquaint oneself with these terms too.

Anteversion and retroversion are terms which denote forward or backward tilting.

Read more| Anteversion and Retroversion

Axial

Axial refers to around the central axis of the whole body or the extremity. Abaxial means away from axis and adaxial means toward the central axis.

Parietal and Visceral

Parietal and visceral are used in visceral structures. Parietal means pertaining to the wall of a body cavity.

For example, the parietal peritoneum is the lining on the inside of the abdominal cavity. [Parietal is also a bone in the skull.]

Visceral means associated with organs within the body’s cavities.

For example, The visceral lining of the stomach.

 

Related

Spread the Knowledge
 
     

Filed Under: Anatomy

About Dr Arun Pal Singh

Arun Pal Singh is an orthopedic and trauma surgeon, founder and chief editor of this website. He works in Kanwar Bone and Spine Clinic, Dasuya, Hoshiarpur, Punjab.

This website is an effort to educate and support people and medical personnel on orthopedic issues and musculoskeletal health.

You can follow him on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter

Primary Sidebar

Browse Articles

odontoid fractures Classification

Dens or Odontoid Fractures

Odontoid fractures are fractures of dens or odontoid process of axis vertebra or C2. Dens is a strong, tooth-like process projecting upwards from the body of the axis. Fractures of the axis make up 27% of all cervical spine injuries. Fractures of the odontoid process are the most common subtype of axis fractures (41%). Odontoid […]

Reconstructed CT image of tibial lesion of dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica

Dysplasia Epiphysealis Hemimelica or Trevor Disease

Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica or Trevor disease rare, a non-hereditary disease characterized by osteochondromas arising from the epiphyses. The incidence is about 1 in 1 million. Males are three times more commonly affected than females. The condition was first described in 1926 by Mouchet and Belot and then by Trevor in 1950. The term dysplasia epiphysealis […]

Tegner Activity Level Scale

Tegner Activity Level Scale

Tegner activity level scale is a scale that aims to provide a standardized method of grading work and sporting activities. It was developed to complement  the Lysholm scale after it was observed that   that limitations in function scores  in Lysholm scale  may be masked by a  decrease in activity level. Tegner activity level scale is […]

PHILOS

PHILOS or Proximal Humerus Internal Locking System

PHILOS stand for Proximal Humerus internal locking system. It is an anatomic fixation system for the proximal humerus which also provides angular stability. This plate was designed with an eye on eldery people as their bones are osteoporotic. A fixation with this system provides stability and reduces the number of complications. It is a precontoured plate and […]

hip osteoarthritis and normal hip

Hip Osteoarthritis – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

This article focuses on hip osteoarthritis. For details on Osteoarthritis, read Osteoarthritis Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment Hip osteoarthritis is common and can result in severe pain and disability. It can make it hard to do everyday activities like bending over to tie a shoe, rising from a chair, or taking a short walk. It is […]

What is Bivalved Cast?

Bivalved cast means the cast cut into two halves. This might be required in cases where frequent inspection in the cast is required, the patient is to be put on a range of motion exercises or a patient Position the patient. Depending on the type of cast applied his cast, it could be sitting or […]

classification of anesthetic agents

Classification of Anesthetic Agents

There are many different anesthetic agents available and the user may vary depending on the site of the procedure, type of anesthesia [local versus spinal] and duration of anesthesia sought. In addition to this patient’s allergy profile needs to be taken into account. Lidocaine is the most commonly used anesthetic and belongs to the amide […]

© Copyright: BoneAndSpine.com
Manage Cookie Consent
The site uses cookies. Please accept cookies for a better visiting experience.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
 

Loading Comments...