Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.

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A Moment in History

Jean-Louis Petit

Jean Louis Petit
(1674 – 1750)

French surgeon and anatomist, Jean Louis Petit was born in Paris in on March 13, 1674.  His family rented an apartment at his house to Alexis Littre (1658 – 1726), a French anatomist. Petit became an apprentice of Littre at seven years of age, helping him in the dissections for his lectures and at an early age became the assistant in charge of the anatomic amphitheater.

Because of Petit’s dedication to anatomy and medicine, in 1690 at the age of sixteen, became a disciple of a famous Paris surgeon, Castel.

In 1692, Petit entered the French army and performed surgery in two military campaigns. By 1693 he started delivering lectures and was accepted as a great surgeon, being invited to the most difficult operations.  In 1700 he was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Military School in Paris and in the same year he received the degree of Master of Surgery from the Faculty of Paris.

In 1715 he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Royal Society of London. He was appointed by the King as the first Director General of the Royal Academy of Surgery when it was founded in 1731.

Petit’s written works are of historical importance.  “Traite des Maladies des Os” ( A Treatise on Bone Diseases);  “Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales et des Operation” (A Treatise on Surgical Diseases and their Operations” This last book was published posthumously in 1774. He also published a monograph on hemorrhage, another on lachrymal fistula, and others.

He was one of the first to perform choIecystotomy and mastoidotomy. His original tourniquet design for amputations saved many in the battlefield and the design of the same surgical instrument today has not changed much since its invention by him.

His name is remembered in the lumbar triangle, also called the "triangle of Petit", and the abdominal hernia that can ensue through that area of weakness, the lumbar hernia or "Petit's hernia".

Sources:
1. “Jean Louis Petit – A Sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings” Hayne, AP San Fran Western Lancet 1875 4: 446-454
2. “Oeuvres compl?tes de Jean-Louis Petit” 1837 Imprimerie de F. Chapoulaud
3. Extraits de l'eloge de Jean-Louis Petit Ius dans Ia seance publique de I' Academie royale de chirurgie du 26 mai 1750” Louis A. Chirurgie 2001: 126 : 475- 81

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Abdominal Regions

Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 07:00 | Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. | Hits: 20568

UPDATED: In surface anatomy the abdomen can be divided into nine regions by named lines (or planes): transpyloric, transtubercular, and midclavicular. These regions have specific visceral content.

• Hypochondriac regions (right and left): [Hypo]="below"; [chondr]="cartilage"; [iac]=”pertaining to”. In this context, the term means “below or deep to the cartilage (of the ribs)". The right hypochondriac region contains the liver, gallbladder, portal vein, and the right colic flexure. The left hypochondriac region contains the stomach, spleen, tail of the pancreas, and left colic flexure. For a detail on how the name of this region relates to a mental disorder, click here.

• Epigastric region: [Epi]="above"; [gastr]="stomach”; [ic]=”pertaining to". The term means “above the stomach”. This region contains mostly stomach and abdominal esophagus

• Lumbar regions (right and left): Right and left lumbar regions. The term [lumbar] refers to the area of the loins. The right lumbar region contains the ascending colon and part of the right kidney. The left lumbar region contains the descending colon and part of the left kidney

• Umbilical region: Centered around the umbilicus, this region contains mostly small intestine, abdominal aorta, and greater omentum

Abdominal regions - Modified from the original Davis, 1910 
• Inguinal regions (right and left): From the Latin [inguen]=”groin". Gaius Plinius Secundus aka “Pliny” (23-79 AD) first used this term naming after a plant (inguinalis) which he used to treat hernias of the groin. The right inguinal region contains the cecum and small intestine. The left inguinal region contains the sigmoid colon. In older days, as shown in the sketch, these regions were called the "iliac regions".

• Hypogastric region: [Hypo]="below"; [gastr]="stomach”; “ic”=”pertaining to. The term means “below the stomach”. The hypogastric region contains mostly small intestine and greater omentum. This region used to be called the "pubic region"

A clinical importance of these abdominal regions is that a ventral hernia is usually named by the anatomical region where it protrudes. Based on the image, you will see then why a hernia can be umbilical, inguinal, lumbar, epigastric, or hypogastric.

Sources:
1. "Clinical Anatomy" Brantigan, OC 1963 McGraw Hill
2. "Tratado de Anatomia Humana" Testut et Latarjet 8th Ed. 1931 Salvat Editores, Spain
3. Davis, Gwilym G. "Applied Anatomy: The Construction of the Human Body Considered in Relation to Its Functions, Diseases, and Injuries"; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1910
Image modified from the original Davis, 1910
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