Regions of The Abdomen and Pelvis
Anatomists and medical personnel divide the abdomen into smaller regions to facilitate study and discussion. The two most common schemes are division into four quadrants and also into nine areas.
The abdominopelvic quadrants evenly divide the space of the torso below the diaphragm into four. They are referred to simply by location: the right upper quadrant, right lower quadrant, left upper quadrant, and left lower quadrant. The right upper quadrant contains the right portion of the liver, the gallbladder, right kidney, a small portion of the stomach, portions of the ascending and transverse colon and parts of small intestine. The left upper quadrant is the location of the left portion of the liver, the larger portion of the stomach, the pancreas, left kidney, spleen, portions of the transverse and descending colon and parts of the small intestine. In the right lower quadrant sits the cecum, appendix, part of the small intestines, the right reproductive organs, and the right ureter. The left lower quadrant houses the majority of the small intestine, some of the large intestine, the left reproductive organs and the left ureter.
The nine divisions (sometimes also called nine quadrants, though the word 'quadrant' itself means division into four equal parts) of the abdominopelvic region are smaller than the four abdominopelvic quadrants and allow more detailed discussion of the area. These are the right hypochondriac, right lumbar, right inguinal (or right iliac), epigastric, umbilical, hypogastric (or pubic), left hypochondriac, left lumbar, and left inguinal (or left iliac). The right and left hypochondriac regions are the outer and uppermost segments. The epigastric lies between these two. The outer middle sections are the right lumbar and left lumbar regions, with the umbilical region between them. The lowest portions are the right and left iliac region with the hypogastric between these.
The Perineum is considered to be the tenth division.
Read more about this topic: Human Anatomical Terms
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