A simple surface anatomy division of the abdomen is into four quadrants. A more detailed division of the abdomen is into nine abdominal regions.
The abdominal quadrants are formed by two planes. The first is the midsagittal or median plane. The second one is a transverse or horizontal plane that passes through the umbilicus. This creates four quadrants with specific content as follows:
Right Upper Quadrant (RUQ): This quadrant contains most of the liver, with the gallbladder, portal vein, the distal portion of the stomach, duodenum, head of the pancreas, part of the ascending colon, part of the transverse colon, the right flexure of the colon, and the right kidney and right adrenal gland
Left Upper Quadrant (LUQ): This quadrant contains the tip of the left lobe of the liver, most of the stomach, spleen, body and tail of the pancreas, part of the transverse colon and the left colic flexure, and the left kidney and left adrenal gland
Right Lower Quadrant (RLQ): This quadrant contains the cecum and ascending colon, vermiform appendix, right ovary, the ileocecal junction, right ureter, part of the small intestine, and the right half of the greater omentum
Left Lower Quadrant (LLQ): This quadrant contains the descending colon, sigmoid colon, left ovary, part of the small intestine, and the left half of the greater omentum
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