anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, the division of the abdomen into regions can employ a nine-region scheme. The hypochondrium refers to the two hypochondriac regions in the upper third of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

; the left hypochondrium and right hypochondrium. They are located on the lateral sides of the abdominal wall respectively, inferior to (below) the thoracic cage, being separated by the

epigastrium In anatomy, the epigastrium (or epigastric region) is the upper central region of the abdomen. It is located between the costal margins and the subcostal plane. Pain may be referred to the epigastrium from damage to structures derived from the for ...

. The

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

is in the right hypochondrium, extending through the epigastrium and reaching the left hypochondrium. The

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

and some of the

stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of Human, humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The Ancient Greek name for the stomach is ''gaster'' which is used as ''gastric'' in medical t ...

are in the left hypochondrium.

Definitions, etymology, and modern controversies

The word derives from the Greek word υποχόνδριο ("hypochondrio"). This Greek word means literally "below the cartilage" which refers to the costal cartilages. In other words, the word refers to the area of the ventral trunk that is located below the costal cartilages. The word once referred only to the soft portion of the abdomen between the rib cage and the navel (the region once believed to be the seat of hypochondriasis), but it is not used that way in modern anatomy's schemes for the regions of the abdomen. Some sources have disputed usage of the term for the parts of the anterior abdominal wall below the costal margins. The region named the right hypochondrium exists anatomically, but is almost totally under the chest wall. In clinical situations, the parts of the abdominal wall just below the right and left costal margins are referred to as the right and left hypochondriac regions respectively.

Significance of region

Clinically speaking, symptoms and signs arising from this region are of great importance and have a specific list of diseases in their differential diagnoses.

Definitions, etymology, and modern controversies

Significance of region

Additional images

See also

References

External links