Sims position

English

Alternative forms

• Sims' position

Etymology

Named after American physician J. Marion Sims (1813–1883).

Noun

Sims position (uncountable)

1. (medicine) A medical position in which the patient lies on the left side with the right hip and knees bent and the left hip and lower extremity straight, often used for rectal and vaginal examination.
   • 1951 February, Forrest H. Howard, “The Physiologic Position for Delivery”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 2, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 98:

     The conventional positions now generally in use in obstetrics are the modified lithotomy position, with the patient on her back, and to a lesser extent the Sims position, wherein the patient reclines on her side, the upper knee being drawn up on the abdomen.