AMA 171 Course Handouts

AMA 171 Anatomy & Physiology/Medical Terminology/Pathology Skin and SensesCourse Handouts

http://www.umm.edu/dermatology-info/anatomy.htm

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http://www.nshearing.ca/anatomy.php

http://www.medicinenet.com/vestibular_balance_disorders/page2.htm

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http://www.medicinenet.com/vestibular_balance_disorders/page2.htm

http://www.nshearing.ca/anatomy.php


http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/

Courses Notes for AMA 171:

This is extra information that the instructors would like you to know – if we lectured, we would tell you more than the text alone does. Please read these notes carefully and study them along with your text.

SENSES:

Glaucoma is a condition of increased intraocular pressure that can damage eyesight. Note it is in the anterior chamber of the eyeball; look at the eyeball diagram in the text. It is often misunderstood that the pressure is in the eyeball itself, which is not true. The aqueous

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http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/


humor which is in the anterior chamber, whereas vitreous humor is in the eyeball.

PERRLA is a common abbreviation that physicians use to note some basics about the patient. It stands for Pupils Equal, Round, Reactive to Light and Accommodation.

See the picture on page 672: this gives you an idea of what the physician sees when using an ophthalmoscope to examine a patient’s retina. This can tell them many things such as high blood pressure – the vessels’ appearance can show that.

The MA who works in an ophthalmology clinic is often called an Ophthalmic Assistant or Technician and has some additional training beyond the typical MA.

MAs do a lot of visual acuity tests. For children who cannot read letters, there are Snellen charts with pictures on them or with hands that point various directions. Be sure you can explain what “20/20” means. Patients commonly ask this. An example for explanation would be a patient who has 20/60 vision: a person reading at 20 feet from the chart can read the “60” line of letters where a person with normal vision would be able to read it at 60 feet away; vision of 20/200 means the patient can read the “200” line at 20 feet but the normal vision person could read it at 200 feet away.

There are some terms in terminology that are used more commonly than the terms that are made of word parts. An example in this chapter would be enucleation: this means removal of the eyeball and/or its contents. If you made a word for this by literal word parts it would be ophthalmectomy – however, this is not the term used.

MAs often irrigate (or lavage) eyes and ears. This can be done to either, cleanse the area, flush out debris, or flush with medication. It is important to know the anatomy and physiology of these parts to avoid any damage. For example, you should direct a flow of fluid to the top of the ear canal to avoid the stream directly squirting at the tympanic membrane.

The ears are connected to the pharynx (throat) by the eustachian tubes. People may confuse these for “ear tubes,” which are small devices often inserted into the tympanic membrane to create and maintain an opening for equalizing pressure between the outer and middle ear. These are often inserted in children who have chronic

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middle ear infections (otitis media). These often work their way out as the membrane grows around it.

Use an otoscope to view the tympanic membrane. When the MA irrigates an ear, the MA must look at the ear canal to assess the amount, consistency and location of cerumen (ear wax) prior to irrigation, then periodically during irrigation to assess when the TM is visible – that is when you are finished irrigating the ear; that is the typically the purpose for irrigating the ears – to allow the physician to see the TM to determine infection or fluid behind the ear or to remove impacted cerumen from those patients who produce a lot and come to the office complaining of pain, dizziness or hearing loss.

Eye irrigations are ordered by the physician with the amount of cc’s of fluid to administer. There are various instruments to use in irrigation, also. Emergency irrigations are often done with an open IV set up without the needle or an eyewash station in a sink.

SKIN:

Dermatology and integumentary are the terms for the skin system. There are usually a lot of procedures in a dermatology office using minor surgery assisting and aseptic techniques.

The skin is the largest organ of the body and is the first line of defense. Skin often shows symptoms of various conditions since it is on the surface of the body and visible. The skin system includes hair, nails and breast tissue.

Be sure to learn the word parts of colors. These are used in all body systems. Note small differences in spelling can change the meaning of the word part (or term). An example: hidro and hydro.

Note the pronunciation of some of the words/word parts: an example is xantho which means yellow. It is pronounced as if the x were a z.

Be sure to learn the lesions such as macule, pustule, etc. These are very common.

Terms like pruritus for itching and urticaria for hives are very common and are generally used instead of the layman’s terms. When charting a patient’s symptoms, use proper medical terms.

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These terms are included here as they do not appear in your text but are common terms: nevus = mole (nevi is plural), keloid is an overgrowth of scar tissue and cicatrix is a scar.

Note there are many terms that mean basically a bruise. There are many types according to size, severity, etc. These include such terms as contusion, petechia, hematoma.

On burns, please note that a 3rd degree burn may seem so severe that it would be extremely painful. However, nerves are destroyed in 3rd degree burns so are not painful until they begin to heal. Then they must be debrided often to keep dead skin and debris from causing infection. One of the biggest problems of a newly burned patient is dehydration.

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AMA 171 Course Handouts

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