Medical Terminology

Anatomical Planes

• Medical professionals often refer to sections of the body in terms of flat surfaces. These are imaginary lines – vertical or horizontal – drawn through an upright body. The terms are used to describe a specific body part.

• The standard reference point that all movements, positions, and planes are described.

  Standing, palms and feet facing forward

• Terms of positions and directions describe the position of one body part in relation to another.

• The act or instance of moving the bodily structures or as the change of position in one or more of the joints of the body

Below another structure/closer to feet 

• Superior

• Anterior

• Posterior

• Inferior

Refers to a structure being farther from the midline

• Medial

• Lateral

• Distal

• Proximal

A structure more in front than another 

• Superior

• Anterior

• Posterior

• Inferior

Decreasing the angle between two joints/bending a joint

• Flexion

• Extension

• Abduction

• Adduction

Near the point of attachment to the trunk or near the beginning of a structure 

• Medial

• Lateral

• Distal

• Proximal

This plane divides the body into left and right

• Frontal/Coronal

• Circumduction

• Sagittal

• Transverse

Far from the point of attachment to the trunk or far from the beginning of a structure 

• Medial

• Lateral

• Distal

• Proximal

Moving a part towards the midline 

• Flexion

• Extension

• Abduction

• Adduction

Above another structure/closer to the head. 

• Superior

• Anterior

• Posterior

• Inferior