¶ … anatomical position, which is basically having the patient standing erect, helps greatly for orientation and overview. With the palms facing forward, the patient stands so that the members of the medical team can readily communicate with each other regarding structures of the body ("Anatomical Position," n.d.). The importance of the anatomical position is to ensure all members of the medical team are on the same page, communicating about the patient's issues with no potential for miscommunication. Using the anatomical position, we can discuss things like directionality, planes, lines, and other features.
When the physician asks us to review the patient's MRI, CT, and radiograph, I have the opportunity to show the assistant why understanding directionality of the body is important. For instance, using an MRI, we generally view the brain with saggital, axial, or coronal views. Each of these views provides a unique insight and overview to offer the doctor a visual representation of abnormalities ranging from tumors to structural discrepancies. The saggital view is from the side, the axial view is overhead with the corpus callosum down the center, and the coronal view from behind revealing occipital lobe (Zapawa & Alcantra, n.d.).
These same basic three views apply to most radiology scans. For example, a CT scan usually relies on the axial plane, which basically refers to splitting the body into a top and bottom half from about the waist or torso area. However, the coronal and saggital planes also pertain to the CT scan in some situations. The axial plane would be dividing the person into left and right halves, by an imaginary line down the center of the body from head to foot. Likewise, the coronal plane in a CT scan divides the patient's body into front and back. The physician will determine which plane of viewing is best for this patient based on the conditions and regions being scanned. With the radiograph, each area in question can also be viewed using the three major planes: saggital, axial, or coronal. It is easy to see now how important an understanding of the anatomical position is, when referring to the results of radiology scans. When the assistant has a strong grasp of the names of the planes, he or she can communicate with the physician about scans and their results. Otherwise, there could be egregious medical errors, in miscommunicating about the parts of the body ranging from anterior and posterior to actual organs.
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