Sims' position

Right lateral Sims position. (The more usual left lateral Sims position, suitable for a right-handed practitioner, has the patient lying on their left side.)
Posterior view of Sims' position
Anterior view of Sims' position

The Sims position, or left lateral Sims position, named after the gynaecologist J. Marion Sims, is usually used for rectal examination, treatments, enemas, and examining patients for vaginal wall prolapse.[1][2]

The Sims Position is described as in the person lying on the left side, left hip and lower extremity straight, and right hip and knee bent. It is also called lateral recumbent position.[3] Sims' position is also described as the person lying on the left side with both legs bent.[4]

  1. ^ Pamela J. Carter; Susan Lewsen (2005). "11. Positioning, lifting, and transferring patients and residents". Lippincott's Textbook for Nursing Assistants: A Humanistic Approach to Caregiving. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7817-3981-8.
  2. ^ Naftalin, Alan (2012). "4. Women". In Michael Glynn (ed.). Hutchison's Clinical Methods : An Integrated Approach to Clinical Practice, 23/e. Elsevier. p. 47. ISBN 978-81-312-3288-0.
  3. ^ "Sim's position : Definition". The Free Medical Dictionary. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  4. ^ Bendon, Charlotte; Price, Natalia (2011). "Sims Speculum Examination" (PDF). The Journal of Clinical Examination (11): 57–68. S2CID 29205507. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016.