Chapter 3: Directional Terms, Planes, Positions, Regions, and Quadrants

Objective 1: Define and spell word parts related to directional terms

• Fill in the blanks with directional combining forms (CFs) listed in the transcript:
  • 2. Back — CF:
  • 3. Back, behind — CF:
  • 1. Head — CF:
  • 4. Tall (as in "tail" of the spine) — CF:
  • 5. Front — CF:
  • 6. Belly (front) — CF:
  • 7. Side — CF:
  • 8. Above — CF:
  • 12. Below — CF:
  • 9. Middle — CF:
  • 10. Near — CF:
  • 11. Away — CF:
  • Leg: point of attachment
• Notes:
  • The exercise asks you to supply directional combining forms (CFs) for each item. Examples of common directional CFs (not explicitly filled in the transcript) include cephal/o (head), caud/o (tail/back), poster/o (back), anter/o (front), ventr/o or ventr/o (belly/front), later/o (side), medi/o (middle), proxim/o (near), dist/o (away/away from center), super/o (above), and infer/o (below). These are standard forms you should be able to recognize and spell when completing the blanks.
• Objective framing: You are learning to define, pronounce, and spell word parts related to directional terms.

Objective 2: Define, pronounce, and spell terms used to describe directions with respect to the body

• Chest X-ray Position (1 of 2): Posterior and Anterior (as separated by layout in the slides). Common abbreviations used in chest radiography projections include AP (anterior-posterior) and PA (posterior-posterior? actually posterior-to-anterior) depending on patient orientation.
• Chest X-ray Position (2 of 2): Anterior and Posterior (written with the same idea in reversed order depending on projection).
• Review Question: Which of the following means two sides?
  • Options: unilateral, lateral, bilateral
  • Answer concept: bilateral means two sides.
• Note: The unit emphasizes correct pronunciation, spelling, and understanding of terms describing directions with respect to the body, as well as common X-ray projection terms (AP, PA).

Objective 3: Define, pronounce, and spell terms used to describe the anatomic planes

• Anatomic planes shown in the MRI images:
  • Frontal or coronal diagnostic image (MRI)
  • Midsagittal diagnostic image (MRI)
  • Transverse diagnostic image (MRI)
• Key definitions:
  • Frontal (coronal) plane: divides the body into anterior (front) and posterior (back) portions.
  • Midsagittal (midline sagittal) plane: divides the body into equal left and right halves.
  • Transverse (axial) plane: divides the body into superior (top) and inferior (bottom) portions.
• Review Question (conceptual):
  1. __ frontal __ or __ coronal __ plane
  2. __ plane __ transverse plane / __ midsagittal __ plane
  3. __ plane __
• Relationship notes: Coronal and frontal are interchangeable terms for the same plane; midsagittal is a specific sagittal plane that passes through the midline; transverse is horizontal division.

Objective 4: Define, pronounce, and spell terms used to describe body positions

• Body positions described:
  • Orthopnea position (or-THOP-nē-a) (pe-ZISH-en): sitting upright in a chair or in bed with pillows behind the back. Sometimes the patient tilts forward resting on a pillow supported by an overbed table (also called orthopneic position).
  • Orthopnea position is necessary to perform a thoracocentesis (thoracentesis), a surgical puncture to aspirate fluid from the chest cavity. You will learn this term in Chapter 5.
• Types of Recumbent Positions (recumbent = lying down):
  • Supine
  • Prone
  • Left lateral recumbent
  • Right lateral recumbent
• Notable epigraph: Fowler position, Sims position, and Trendelenburg position are eponyms named after surgeons who developed positions for specific procedures:
  • Fowler position: George Ryerson Fowler
  • Sims position: James Marion Sims
  • Trendelenburg position: Friedrich Trendelenburg
• Memory Lane note: These eponym-derived positions are capitalized because they are proper names.
• Review Question (examples given on the slides):
  • 1) Fowler position
  • 2) Trendelenburg position
  • 1) 60°
  • 1) 45°
• Additional synonyms for body positions (also called):
  • ventral recumbent position
  • recumbent position
  • orthopnea position
  • dorsal recumbent position
  • prone position
  • decubitus position
  • orthopneic position
  • supine position
• Stroll Down Memory Lane (EPONYMS): why capitalized? because they are named after people (Fowler, Sims, Trendelenburg).

Objective 5: Define, pronounce, and spell terms used to describe the abdominopelvic regions

• Abdominopelvic regions (nine-region grid):
  • Right hypochondriac | Epigastric | Left hypochondriac
  • Right lumbar | Umbilical | Left lumbar
  • Right iliac | Hypogastric | Left iliac
• Regional definitions (definitions given in the slides):
  • Umbilical region: around the navel (umbilicus)
  • Epigastric region: superior to the umbilical region
  • Hypogastric region: inferior to the umbilical region
  • Hypochondriac regions: to the right and left of the epigastric region
  • Lumbar regions: to the right and left of the umbilical region
  • Iliac regions: to the right and left of the hypogastric region
• Abdominopelvic region identification task:
  • Identify a region by its definition (umbilical, epigastric, hypogastric, hypochondriac, lumbar, iliac).

Objective 6: Identify and spell the four abdominopelvic quadrants

• Quadrants:
  • Right Upper Quadrant (RUQ)
  • Left Upper Quadrant (LUQ)
  • Right Lower Quadrant (RLQ)
  • Left Lower Quadrant (LLQ)
• Commonly associated organs (as shown in the chapter visuals):
  • RUQ: Liver (and portions of stomach and large intestine given in the diagrams)
  • LUQ: Stomach (and parts of liver, pancreas, spleen)
  • RLQ: Appendix, cecum, portions of small and large intestine
  • LLQ: Large intestine portions (descending/sigmoid), left ovary (in females), left ureter
• Notation: The umbilicus is the central reference point for dividing the quadrants.
• Quick reference: Abdominopelvic quadrants are used to localize pain, symptoms, or findings to a specific quadrant of the abdomen.

Objective 7: Interpret the meaning of abbreviations presented in this chapter

• Abdominopelvic quadrant abbreviations: RUQ, LUQ, RLQ, LLQ
• X-ray projection abbreviations:
  • PA — posterior to anterior (back to front) projection
  • AP — anterior to posterior (front to back) projection
  • lat — lateral projection
• Additional abbreviations introduced in Quick Review:
  • ant — anterior
  • med — medial
  • inf — inferior
  • sup — superior
• Directional abbreviations (from the charts):
  • Above: sup
  • Front: anter
  • Below: inf
  • Midline: med
  • Side: lat
  • Middle: med
• Abbreviation practice notes: you should be able to match terms with their abbreviations and use them correctly in clinical context.

Objective 8: Apply medical language in clinical contexts

• Pronounced medical terms in Use (example):
  • The patient presented with pain in the right lumbar region and right unilateral leg pain.
  • Pain described as posterior portion of the leg radiating to distal lateral portion of the extremity.
  • Some proximal muscle weakness was reported in the affected leg.
  • A lumbar spine radiograph was normal.
  • If pain does not respond to anti-inflammatory medication, referral to an orthopedist may occur.
• Pronunciation cues (as shown):
  • right lumbar (LUM-bar)
  • right unilateral (ū-ni-LAT-er-al)
  • posterior (pos-TER-ē-or)
  • distal (DIS-tal)
  • lateral (LAT-er-al)
  • proximal (PROX-i-mal)
• Takeaways:
  • Practice breaking terms into syllables and stressing the correct parts to improve comprehension and communication.

Review: Abbreviations, directions, and positions

• Abbreviation Review (1 of 2):
  • What is the abbreviation for projection moving from back to front? PA
• Abbreviation Review (2 of 2):
  • What is the abbreviation for projection moving from front to back? AP
• Abbreviations (general quick recall):
  • anterior: ant
  • medial: med
  • inferior: inf
  • superior: sup
  • lateral: lat
• Directional terms with abbreviations (summary):
  • Above: sup
  • Front: anter
  • Below: inf
  • Midline: med
  • Side: lat
  • Middle: med

Palpating arterial pulses: procedure and review questions

• Procedure (summarized):
  • Temporal pulse: located near the temple; typical palpation position is just above the eyebrow region.
  • Radial pulse: palpated on the lateral and front of the wrist.
  • Femoral pulse: located below the inguinal ligament.
• Review Questions (palpation):
  • Temporal pulse location options include variations around the eyebrow; correct is near the temple region just above the eyebrow.
  • Radial pulse location: lateral and anterior (front) of the wrist is correct.
  • Femoral pulse location: below the medial inguinal ligament is correct.

Chapter Content Review: Term grouping and odd one out

• Fowler, Sims, frontal, Trendelenburg, coronal
• Question: Which term does not belong with the others?
  • Explanation: Coronal is an anatomic plane; the others (Fowler, Sims, Trendelenburg, etc.) are patient positions. The correct odd one out is coronal if grouped with positional terms.

Quick reference terms from the chapter visuals

• Directions and planes: anterior (front), posterior (back), superior (above), inferior (below), medial (toward midline), lateral (toward the side), proximal (near point of attachment), distal (away from point of attachment), ventral (belly/front), dorsal (back), cephal/o (head), caud/o (tail), medi/o (middle), proxim/o (near), dist/o (away).
• Planes: frontal (coronal), sagittal (midsagittal), transverse (axial).
• Body positions to know by heart: Fowler, Sims, Trendelenburg, orthopneic, orthopnea, supine, prone, lateral recumbent, dorsal recumbent, ventral recumbent.

Notes

• This set of notes mirrors the chapter’s structure and content as presented in the transcript. Where the original source presents blanks (CFs) or multiple-choice prompts, the notes identify the concepts and provide the expected knowledge areas to study (combining forms, planes, positions, and abbreviations).
• For full mastery, supplement these notes with practice spelling, pronunciation, and the ability to recognize and use abbreviations in context.