INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMICAL TERMS

AN INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMICAL TERMS (For  freshmen in college) 

                                   

                               

          One of my major difficulties when I picked up clinically oriented anatomy (COA) was the big words found in the textbook. This can be made simpler by understanding the common terms used. Some of them include;

• ANTERIOR (VENTRAL);  This means nearer to the front E.g. the toes are anterior to the ankle, this means the toes are nearer to the front than the ankle OR the eyes are located in the anterior aspect of the human body. In embryology, ventral is usually used instead of anterior
• POSTERIOR (DORSAL); This means nearer to the back E.g. The heel is posterior to the toes. In most embryology textbooks dorsal is used instead of posterior
• MEDIAL; This means nearer to the midline of the body. The mid-plane or midline is an imaginary line that divides the body into two equal parts. E.g. the little finger is medial to the thumb
• LATERAL; This means father from the mid-plane of the body. E.g. The thumb is the most lateral finger of the hand
• SUPERIOR (CRANIAL); This means nearer to the head. E.g. The abdomen is superior to the thigh. In embryology textbooks cranial is used instead of superior. ( the word cranial is gotten from cranium which means skull and is found in the head).
• INFERIOR (CAUDAL);This means nearer to the foot. E.g. The thigh is inferior to the abdomen. In embryology textbooks caudal is used instead of inferior. Caudal means tail and is located inferiorly.
• PROXIMAL; This is from the word proximity which means nearer.  Proximal in anatomy means nearer to the trunk (I.e. the part of the body made up of the thorax and abdomen) or point of origin. E.g. The elbow is proximal to the wrist.
• DISTAL; This is from the word distant which means far away. Distal means farther from the trunk or point of origin (E.g. of a limb). The wrist is distal to the elbow. Since the upper limb originates from the shoulder joint we can say the wrist is far away from the shoulder when compared to the elbow. The same applies for proximal
• SUPERFICIAL; This means nearer to the surface. E.g. the skin is the most superficial structure in the human body. Superficial can also mean ‘on top of’. E.g. the muscles of the thigh are superficial to the femur, this means that the thigh muscles are on top of the femur
• INTERMEDIATE; This means in between two things, usually a deep and superficial structure. E.g. The biceps is intermediate to the skin and humerus, this means that the biceps is found in between the skin and the humerus.
• DEEP; This means farther from the surface. E.g. the humerus is deep to the arm muscles. Deep can be used interchangeably with ‘below’ for better understanding. It is just like saying that the humerus is below the arm muscle.
• PALMAR; This means the anterior part of the hand (palm) for the upper limb and the sole of the foot for lower limb. The surfaces are similar
• DORSAL; This refers to the other part of the hand and foot covered by skin, they are referred to as dorsal parts

TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE MOVEMENTS

• FLEXION; This refers to bending or decreasing the angle between the bones or parts of the body. E.g. the movement made when lifting weights at the gym (at the elbow joint).
• EXTENSION; Straightening or increasing the angle between the bones or parts of the body .E.g. kicking a football causes extension of the leg at the knee joint
• ADDUCTION; This refers to moving one structure towards the median plane of the body or towards another medially. (Remember; ADD = PUTTING TOGETHER). Adduction says ‘move towards’. E.g. bringing the fingers of the hand closer to each other
• ABDUCTION; This refers to moving one structure away from the median plane or away from another laterally.  E.g. spreading the fingers far from each other
There are many other movements the body can perform, but these ones are the very essential ones and important especially to fresh medical students.


N.B.
All movements and description of the organs in the human body are described in relation to the anatomical position which is that of a human standing facing forward, feet pointing forward and palm facing outward.

I hope with this simplified version of ‘’ INTRODUTION TO ANATOMICAL TERMS’’, picking up your clinically oriented anatomy or Gray’s anatomy textbook shouldn’t be a nightmare.

                                                                                                                           Fasanye Ebunoluwa