Anatomical plane dividing the body into left and right
Sagittal plane
The main anatomical planes of the human body, including mid-sagittal or median (red), parasagittal (yellow), frontal or coronal plane (blue) and transverse or axial plane (green)
The sagittal plane (/ˈsædʒɪtəl/; also known as the longitudinal plane) is an
anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sections.[1] It is perpendicular to the
transverse and
coronal planes. The plane may be in the center of the body and divide it into two equal parts (
mid-sagittal), or away from the midline and divide it into unequal parts (para-sagittal).
The term sagittal derives from the
Latin word sagitta, meaning "arrow". An image of an arrow piercing a body and passing from front (anterior) to back (posterior) on a parabolic
trajectory would be one way to demonstrate the derivation of the term. Another explanation would involve the notching of the
sagittal suture posteriorly by the
lambdoidal suture —similar to feathers on an arrow. The
Oxford English Dictionary indicates that sagittal in the sense of the
sagittal suture along the vertex of the skull pre-dates other anatomical usage.[7]
Sagittal axis or anterior-posterior axis is the axis perpendicular to the coronal plane, i.e., the one formed by the intersection of the sagittal and the transversal planes
Coronal axis, medial-lateral axis, or frontal axis is the axis perpendicular to the sagittal plane, i.e., the one formed by the intersection of the coronal and the transversal planes.[8]
Extension and flexion are the movements of limbs within the sagittal plane.[9]
^Arráez-Aybar, Luis-A; Bueno-López, JL; Raio, N (2015). "Toledo school of translators and their influence on anatomical terminology". Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger. 198: 21–33.
doi:
10.1016/j.aanat.2014.12.003.
PMID25667112.
^Yokochi, Chihiro;
Rohen, Johannes W. (2006). Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body. Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 2006. 217 p.
ISBN0-7817-9013-1.