MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Most medical terms are formed by a combination of basic word parts

Word Parts Word Roots Act as the foundation of most medical terms Act as the foundation of most medical terms Usually indicate the involved body part Usually indicate the involved body part encephal/o brain encephal/o brain cardi/o heart cardi/o heart pneum/o lung pneum/o lung

Suffixes Found at the end of a word Found at the end of a word Usually indicate the procedure, condition, disorder, or disease Usually indicate the procedure, condition, disorder, or disease -ectomy surgical removal of -ectomy surgical removal of -osis abnormal condition -osis abnormal condition -oma tumor -oma tumor

Prefixes Found at the beginning of a word Found at the beginning of a word Usually indicate location, time, number, or status Usually indicate location, time, number, or status post- after post- after peri- around peri- around tri- three tri- three

Combining Vowels *A combining vowel may be needed between the word root and the suffix to make the medical term easier to pronounce

Combining Vowels 1. A combining vowel – usually “o”- is used when the suffix begins with a consonant EX: neur/o (nerve) + -plasty (surgical repair) neuroplasty

Combining Vowels 2. A combining vowel is not used when the suffix begins with a vowel EX: neur/o (nerve) + -itis (inflammation) neuritis

3. A combining vowel is always used when two or more root words are joined EX: gastr/o(stomach) + enter/o(intestine) gastroentero Gastroentero + -itis = gastroenteritis Combining Vowels

4. A prefix does not require a combining vowel Combining Vowels

Practice Prefix + Root Word + Suffix poly- neur/o -itis polyneuritis inflammation of many nerves

Practice Prefix + Root Word + Suffix hyper- gastr/o -algia excessive stomach pain hypergastralgia

Terminology Game

hyperemesissplenomegalyhemangiomabradypneacholecystectomyhyperglycemiaosteomyelitisendocarditisendoscopicretrogradecholangiopancreatography

Assigned Root Words angi/o vessel angi/o vessel cardi/o heart cardi/o heart colon/o, col/o colon (lg intestine) colon/o, col/o colon (lg intestine) derm/o, dermat/o skin derm/o, dermat/o skin enter/o intestine enter/o intestine gastr/o stomach gastr/o stomach my/o muscle my/o muscle neur/o nerve neur/o nerve trache/o trachea trache/o trachea

Assigned Prefixes hyper-excessive, above hyper-excessive, above hypo- less than, below hypo- less than, below post- after post- after pre- before pre- before

Assigned Suffixes -algia pain -algia pain -ectomy surgical removal of -ectomy surgical removal of -emesis vomit -emesis vomit -gram record -gram record -ic pertaining to -ic pertaining to -itis inflammation of -itis inflammation of -ologist specialist -ologist specialist -ology study of -ology study of

-ostomy artificial opening -ostomy artificial opening -otomy incision into -otomy incision into -plasty surgical repair -plasty surgical repair -scopy visual exam -scopy visual exam -ia condition -ia condition -ism condition -ism condition -osis condition -osis condition -otic condition -otic condition Assigned Suffixes

Physician’s Orders 1. Diagnosis: Congestive Heart Failure 2. Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing every 4 hours 3. Chest x-ray immediately 4. Arterial blood gases, complete blood count, electrolytes, and urinalysis 5. Intravenous of normal saline at 100 cubic centimeters per hour

Physician’s Orders 1. Dx: CHF 2. IPPB q4h 3. CXR stat 4. ABGs, CBC, lytes, UA 5. IV of 100cc/hr

Medical Abbreviations Medical abbreviations are used to cut down on the time spent documenting patient care Medical abbreviations are used to cut down on the time spent documenting patient care Some abbreviations are universal - others are specific to areas of the country or medical facilities Some abbreviations are universal - others are specific to areas of the country or medical facilities Upper and lower case specific Upper and lower case specific

Medical Abbreviations EX: pt = patient PT = physical therapy PT = physical therapy *It is YOUR responsibility to know the approved medical abbreviations for your medical facility

Assigned Abbreviations _ c : with c : with _ s : without s : without _ p : after p : after _ a : before a : before

@ at ad lib as desired ad lib as desired ASAP as soon as possible ASAP as soon as possible c/o complains of c/o complains of d day d day Dx, dx diagnosis (what’s wrong) Dx, dx diagnosis (what’s wrong) h hour h hour MD medical doctor MD medical doctor prn as needed prn as needed q every q every pt patient pt patient stat immediately stat immediately TLC tender, loving care TLC tender, loving care Assigned Abbreviations

Medical Abbreviations bid twice a day bid twice a day qid four times a day qid four times a day tid three times a day tid three times a day qod every other day qod every other day tx treatment tx treatment Sx sign, symptom Sx sign, symptom VS vital signs VS vital signs HOB head of bed HOB head of bed D/C discharge, discontinue D/C discharge, discontinue CXR chest x ray CXR chest x ray Hx History Hx History NPO Nothing by mouth NPO Nothing by mouth