DR SAM CHIME

ANATOMICAL TERMS,POSITIONS AND

MOVEMENTS
• Anatomy is the study of the structure of the
body.
• It is conventionally divided into topographical
or gross anatomy (which includes surface, or
‘living', anatomy, neuroanatomy, endoscopic
and imaging anatomy), microscopic anatomy
or histology and embryology (the study of the
embryo and fetus).
• Anatomical language is one of the
fundamental languages of medicine. The
unambiguous description of thousands of
structures is impossible without an extensive
and often highly specialized vocabulary
• Ideally, these terms, which are often derived
from Latin or Greek, should be used to the
exclusion of any other, throughout the world.
• To avoid ambiguity, all anatomical descriptions
assume that the body is in the conventional
‘anatomical position', i.e. standing erect and
facing forwards, upper limbs by the side with
the palms facing forwards, and lower limbs
together with the toes facing forwards
• Supine position
• Prone position
• Descriptions are based on four imaginary planes, median,
sagittal, coronal and horizontal, applied to a body in the
anatomical position.
• The median plane passes longitudinally through the body and
divides it into right and left halves.
• The sagittal plane is any vertical plane parallel with the median
plane: although often used, ‘parasagittal’ is therefore
redundant.
• The coronal (frontal) plane is orthogonal to the median plane
and divides the body into anterior (front) and posterior (back).
• The horizontal (transverse) plane is orthogonal to both
median and sagittal planes.
• The sagittal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ
vertically into right and left sides. If this vertical plane runs
directly down the middle of the body, it is called the midsagittal
or median plane. If it divides the body into unequal right and left
sides, it is called a parasagittal plane, or less commonly a
longitudinal section.
• The frontal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ
into an anterior (front) portion and a posterior (rear) portion. The
frontal plane is often referred to as a coronal plane, following
Latin corona, which means "crown“
• The transverse plane is the plane that divides the body or organ
horizontally into upper and lower portions. Transverse planes
produce images referred to as cross sections.
• Structures nearer the head are superior, cranial or
(sometimes) cephalic, whereas structures closer
to the feet are inferior; caudal is most often used
in embryology to refer to the tail end of the
embryo.
• Medial and lateral indicate closeness to the
median plane, medial being closer than lateral: in
the anatomical position, the little finger is medial
to the thumb, the great toe is medial to the little
toe.
 TERMS
• ANTERIOR
• POSTERIOR
• VENTRAL
• DORSAL
• FLEXOR
• EXTENSOR
• PALMER
• PLANTER
 TERMS CONTD
• PROXIMAL
• DISTAL
• EXTERNAL
• INTERNAL
• Superficial and deep are used to describe the
relationships between adjacent structures.
Ipsilateral refers to the same side (of the body,
organ or structure), bilateral to both sides, and
contralateral to the opposite side.
• Anterior and posterior, which describe structures at the front
(anterior) and back (posterior) of the body. For example, the
toes are anterior to the heel, and the popliteus is posterior to
the patella.[1]
• Superior and inferior, which describe a position above
(superior) or below (inferior) another part of the body. For
example, the orbits are superior to the oris, and the pelvis is
inferior to the abdomen.[1]
• Proximal and distal, which describe a position that is closer
(proximal) or further (distal) from the trunk of the body. [1] For
example, the shoulder is proximal to the arm, and the foot is
distal to the knee.
• Superficial and deep, which describe structures that are closer to
(superficial) or further from (deep) the surface of the body. For
example, the skin is superficial to the bones, and the brain is deep to
the skull.[1] Sometimes profound is used synonymously with deep.
• Medial and lateral, which describe a position that is closer to (medial)
or further from (lateral) the midline of the body. For example, the nose
is medial to the eyes, and the thumb is lateral to the other fingers.
• Ventral and dorsal, which describe structures derived from the front
(ventral) and back (dorsal) of the embryo, before limb rotation.
• Cranial and caudal, which describe structures close to the top of the
skull (cranial), and towards the bottom of the body (caudal).
• Occasionally, sinister for left, and dexter for right are used.
• Paired, referring to a structure that is present on both sides of the body
• Intermediate : between two structures, one
will be medial the other lateral. Eg the ring
finger is intermediate between the fifth digit
and the third digit
• Combined terms: inferomedial;
anterosuperior
 MOVEMENTS
• Movement types are generally paired, with
one being the opposite of the other. Body
movements are always described in relation to
the anatomical position of the body: upright
stance, with upper limbs to the side of body
and palms facing forward
• Terms describing motion in general include:
• Flexion and extension, which refer to a movement that decreases
(flexion) or increases (extension) the angle between body parts. For
example, when standing up, the knees are extended.
• Abduction and adduction refers to a motion that pulls a structure away
from (abduction) or towards (adduction) the midline of the body or limb.
For example, a star jump requires the legs to be abducted.
• Internal rotation (or medial rotation) and external rotation (or lateral
rotation) refers to rotation towards (internal) or away from (external) the
center of the body. For example, the Lotus position posture in yoga
requires the legs to be externally rotated.
• Elevation and depression refer to movement in a superior (elevation) or
inferior (depression) direction. Primarily refers to movements involving
the scapula and mandible
• Special motions of the hands and feet[edit]
• These terms refer to movements that are regarded as
unique to the hands and feet:[12]:590–7
• Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion refers to flexion
(dorsiflexion) or extension of the foot at the ankle. For
example, plantarflexion occurs when pressing the
brake pedal of a car.
• Palmarflexion and dorsiflexion refer to movement of the
flexion (palmarflexion) or extension (dorsiflexion) of the
hand at the wrist. For example, prayer is often
conducted with the hands dorsiflexed.
• Pronation and supination refer to rotation of the forearm
or foot so that in the anatomical position the palm or sole
is facing anteriorly (supination) or posteriorly (pronation) .
For example, if a person makes a "thumbs up" gesture,
supination will cause the thumb to point away from the
body midline and the fingers and plam to be upwards,
while pronation will cause the thumb to point towards
the body midline with the back of the hand upwards.
• Eversion and inversion refer to movements that tilt the
sole of the foot away from (eversion) or towards
(inversion) the midline of the body.
• Circumduction : Circular movement combining
flexion,extension,abduction and adduction
• Eversion : Moving the sole of the foot away
from the median plane
• Inversion : Moving the sole of the foot toward
the median plane
• Protrusion : Moving anteriorly
• Retrusion : Moving posteriorly