Difference Between Prone and Supine Position

The key difference between prone and supine position is that prone position refers to lying flat with the chest down and the back up while supine position refers to lying horizontally with the face and torso facing up.

Prone position and supine position are two terms that describe anatomical positions. In fact, prone and supine positions are two contrasting positions; supine position is the opposite position of prone position. Prone position means lying flat with the chest down and the back up so, a person lies, face down in prone position. Supine position means lying horizontally, with the face and torso facing up.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Prone Position
3. What is Supine Position
4. Similarities Between Prone and Supine Position
5. Side by Side Comparison – Prone vs Supine Position in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Prone Position?

Prone position is a body position in which a person lies horizontally, with the chest down and the back up. In simple words, it is the position where a person lies face down. Therefore, the dorsal side is up, and the ventral side is down in prone position. This position is completely opposite to supine position.

In prone position, the palm of the hand is directed posteriorly, and the radius and ulna are crossed. Prone position is the easiest position for a shooter because it is the most stable position in shooting as the ground provides extra stability. Moreover, vertebrates use the prone position more often since it allows them to easily get up in contrast to supine position.

What is Supine Position?

Supine position is the anatomical position in which a person lies horizontally, with the face and torso facing up. This position is commonly used in surgical procedures since the supine position allows access to the majority of organs during surgeries. In supine position, dorsal side is down while the ventral side is up.

Livor mortis is one type of post mortem calorocity, and it is the purple-red colouration that appears on the dependent portion of the body due to the settling of blood under the force of gravity when the body is in the supine position.

What are the Similarities Between Prone and Supine Position?

• Prone and supine positions are two body positions.
• They are two contrasting positions.
• Body lies horizontally in both positions.

What is the Difference Between Prone and Supine Position?

Prone and supine positions are contrasting positions of the body. In prone position, a person lies with the face down while in supine position, a person lies with the face up. So, this is the key difference between prone and supine position. In shooting, prone position is the easiest position while supine position is not suitable for shooting.

The following infographic summarizes the differences between prone and supine position in tabular form.

Summary – Prone vs Supine Position

Prone position is the body position in which a person lies with the face down. In contrast, supine position is the body position in which a person lies horizontally with the face and torso up. Therefore, supine position is the position 180⁰ opposite to prone position. Thus, this is the key difference between prone and supine position. In surgical procedures, supine position is commonly used since it allows access to the majority of internal organs while prone position is commonly used in shooting as the ground provides extra stability.

Reference:

1. “Prone Position”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2020, Available here.
2. “Supine Position”. Biology Dictionary, 2020, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Supine and prone diagrams-en” By Jmarchn – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

2. “Supine position” By Saltanat ebli – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia