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Unit 1 Health Informatics Career Pathway
focusing in is to divide the abdomen it into four abdominal quadrants
[abdomin = abdomen, quad = four] with the umbilicus, or belly button, at
the center. Each of these quadrants contains just a few abdominal organs.
The right upper quadrant (RUQ) contains the liver and gallbladder. The
stomach, spleen, and pancreas lie in the left upper quadrant (LUQ). The
appendix is a common cause of complaint in the right lower quadrant
(RLQ), while the descending and sigmoid colon are in the lower left
quadrant (LLQ). The small intestines are spread across the right and left
lower quadrants.
A more detailed method is to divide the abdomen into nine
abdominal regions, like a tic-tac-toe board, with the umbilicus at the
center of the umbilical region. The epigastric region [epi = upon, gastr =
stomach, ic = pertaining to] above it houses most of the stomach and
pancreas. The right hypochondriac region [hypo = below, chondr =
cartilage, ac = pertaining to] refers to the area under the cartilage of the
ribcage, which contains the gallbladder and part of the liver, intestines,
and right kidney. The left hypochondriac region holds the spleen and
parts of the stomach, pancreas, colon, and left kidney. The right and left
lumbar regions [lumb = lower back, loins] below the ribcage are named for
the nearby lumbar vertebrae and contain parts of the intestines, kidneys,
and colon. Below them, the right and left iliac regions are framed by
the iliac bones of the hips. These regions contain the intestines and the
appendix on the right and the sigmoid colon on the left. Keep in mind, the
patient’s right is your left! The hypogastric region [hypo = below, gastr =
stomach, ic = pertaining to] is well below the stomach and includes the
bladder, uterus (in females), and part of the small intestines.
These points of reference are helpful when a patient complains of
abdominal pain. What organs would you expect to be coding treatments
for if the progress notes indicated sharp pains in the patient’s right iliac
region?
Body Cavities
The interior of the body is divided into body cavities that contain the
vital organs (Figure 5.15). Each body cavity is separated by a membrane
that covers and protects the organs within. They are also protected by
bones. The ventral cavity in the front is surrounded by the ribs and pelvic
bones. The dorsal cavity in the back is protected by the bones of the skull
and vertebrae. There are also smaller sinus, orbital, oral, and nasal cavities
in the head.
The diaphragm muscle separates the ventral cavity into the thoracic
[thorac = chest] cavity above and the abdominopelvic [abdomino =
abdomen, pelv = pelvis, hip region] cavity below. This separation helps to
prevent infections from moving from one part of the body to another. The
thoracic cavity includes the pericardial [peri = around, cardi = heart] cavity
for the heart, surrounded by two pleural (PLOOR-uhl) [pleur = side, rib]
cavities for the lungs. The abdominopelvic cavity includes the abdominal
cavity for the digestive organs and the pelvic cavity that houses the
reproductive organs, bladder, and rectum. The peritoneum (pair-ih-toh-
NEE-um) is a membrane that separates the abdominal and pelvic cavities
along an imaginary line from the top of the iliac bones of the hips down
to the pelvic bone.
abdominal region
one of nine equal areas
of the abdomen that
are named and used as
reference points when
discussing the body
body cavity
a hollow space within the
body that is lined by a
membrane and contains
bodily organs