BODY STRUCTURE

OUTLINE
• Directional terms
• Patient positioning
• Body cavities
• Body regions
• Divisions of the abdomen
Anatomical position
• Stands up erect
• Face forward
• Arms at the sides
• Palms face forward
• Feet point forward
 DIRECTIONAL TERMS
Superior-inferior Cephalic-caudal

Anterior-posterior Ventral-dorsal

Medial-lateral

Proximal-distal
DIRECTIONAL TERMS
PLANES OF DIVISION
 PATIENT POSITIONING
Trendelenberg
SUPINE
Fowler

This is the most common position. The patient lying on his or her
back with head, neck, and spine in neutral positioning and arms
either adducted alongside the patient or abducted to less than 90
degrees.
PRONE The patient lying on his or her front

LATERAL
PATIENT POSITIONING
 BODY REGIONS
AXIAL BODY: head and trunk
APPENDICULAR BODY: lower and upper
extremities.
HEAD AND NECK

THORAX
TRUNK ABDOMEN
UPPER EXTREMITIES
PELVIC

LOWER EXTREMITIES
DIVISIONS OF THE ABDOMEN
 Review Questions
1. Describe supine position
2. The standard position for anatomical studies, in which the body is erect, facing
forward, the arms are at the sides with palms forward and the feet are parallel is
called:
3. The sagital plane sections the body into which two portions
4. T or F: The cranial and spinal cavities are the ventral body cavities
5. T or F: The frontal plane divides the body into anterior and posterior parts
6. T or F: The thoracic cavity is inferior to the abdominal cavity.
 CASE STUDY
A 20 year old woman lost control of her bike and crashed into a tree. At the scene the patient
complained of pain in her head, back, chest and legs.
The paramedics did a quick cephalocaudal assessment and immobilized the patient with a
cervical collar and a backboard.
Once the paramedic arrived to the hospital, the ER team continued the assessment. The patient
had frontal and left temporal lacerations, bilateral thoracic pain on inspiration, posterior
displacement deformity of the left shoulder and lumbar pain which radiated down both legs that
increased with leg movement, and caused lower extremities paresthesia.
 Case Study Questions
• The lumbar pain radiated distally. Where the the pain radiate to
a. Head
b. Neck
c. Legs
d. Arms
• A cephalocaudal assessment goes from:
a. Front to back
b. Side to side
c. Head to toe
d. All of the above
• A cervical collar was placed on the victim to stabilize and immobilize the
a. Uterus
b. Neck
c. Shoulder
d. Stomach
Case Study Questions
The temporal laceration is ________
to the parietal bone
a. Lateral
b. Medial
c. In front
d. Anterior

The occipital bone is ________ to the

temporal laceration.
a. Lateral
b. Posterior
c. Above
d. In side