Regions of the abdomen (English)

The most common way to divide the abdomen is by using two vertical and two horizontal planes. The vertical planes are the left and right midclavicular lines that pass from the middle of the clavicle downwards to the middle of the inguinal ligament. The first horizontal plane is the subcostal plane which runs at the level of the lower edge of the 10th costal cartilage. The second horizontal plane is the intertubercular plane, which passes through the tubercles of the iliac crest and the body of the fifth lumbar vertebra. These planes divide the abdomen into nine regions; right and left hypochondriac regions, epigastric region, umbilical region, right and left lateral regions of abdomen, hypogastric region, and right and left inguinal regions. Another way to divide the abdomen is with one vertical and one horizontal line. The vertical line runs along the midline of the abdomen and the horizontal line along the abdomen at the level of the umbilicus. These divide the abdomen into the right upper quadrant, the left upper quadrant, the right lower quadrant and the left lower quadrant.