Abdominal Quadrants
To make it easier to locate the organs in the greater abdominopelvic cavity, anatomists have divided the abdominopelvic cavity into nine regions, defined as follows:
Region Upper Abdominopelvic | Region Medium Abdominopelvic | Region Lower Abdominopelvic |
At the level of the ninth rib | Between the ninth ribs and the hip bones | At the top level hip bones |
Right Hypochondriac Region Epigastric Region Left Hypochondriac Region | Right Side Region Umbilical Region Left Side Region | Right Inguinal Region Pubic Region (Hypogastric) Left Inguinal Regiona |
Another simpler way to divide the abdominopelvic cavity is into Four Quadrants.
This method is often used to locate pain or describe the location of a tumor. The sagittal, median, and transverse planes pass through the umbilicus and divide the abdominopelvic region into the following four quadrants: