Medical Terminology or

How to sound like a healthcare wizard

• Put this sign on the patient’s door prior to Sx

• What is NPO? (nothing by mouth to avoid aspirating food during anesthesia)

• Premature babies go to this hospital service

• What is NICU or neonatal intensive care unit?

• Lee, Sherman and Custer all have this in common

• All had the rank of general

• A very common routine blood test

• What is a CBC or complete blood count?

• If you’re Bx comes back positive, you’ll need to see this specialist

• What is an oncologist (Bx is biopsy and if carcinoma, see the MD for Tx c chemoTx and Radiation, possibly Sx)

• He was rude to her at music awards dinner/presentation two years ago

• Who is Kanye West/Taylor Swift?

• Good cholesterol

• What is HDL or high density lipoproteins? (LDL’s are the bad cholesterol)

• It used to be called emphysema

• What is COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder? (smoker’s lung)

• The procedure for removing one of one’s ovaries

• What is a unilateral oophorectomy?

• Neutering a male is surgically called this

• What is a bilateral orchectomy?

• If you’re constipated, order this

• MOM (milk of magnesia) Most post op patients are constipated from the anesthetics which slows down their bowel movements

• You’ll be grateful to your doctor if he gives you BRP

• What are bathroom privileges?

• You need K in your diet to help your muscles and heart function

• What is Potassium (k)

• Careful using syringes around pts with ARC

• Aids related complex (a group of physical symptoms associated with AIDS, like skin rashes, lung infections, etc.)

• You’re in Piccadilly Circus and Soho; where are you?

• London

• If something is located more in the midline of the body than something else, it is said to be this

• What is medial?

• One yr of nursing training might get you this license and degree

• What is an LPN or LVN (licensed practical or licensed vocational nurse)? Half an RN

• Four ways to administer medications (abbreviations only)

• IV, IM, PO, TD,SC (transdermally as in a patch on the skin), PR (by the rectum), SL (sublingual, or under the tongue) also by inhalation, SC is subcuticularly or “under the skin”

• It means “at bedtime”

• H.s. or hour of sleep

• It means “take after meals”

• P.C. “post cibum” after food. A. C. means “before meal”

• You’re being rowed on a gondola; where are you?

• Venice, Italy on the canals; it’s a unique canal row boat and the gondolier sings arias from opera

• It is the charting abbreviation meaning the pts measurements are average as expected

• What is WNL or “within normal limits”

• It’s what you put on an open surgical or traumatic wound, abbreviation only

• A DSD or dry sterile dressing

• It is and abbreviation for all of the information a patient reports to a doctor at the first visit describing their chief complaint and medical background, allergies, prior treatment, prior surgery, medical conditions, etc.

• What is Hx or medical history

• If you have a purulent, suppurative abscess. This abbreviation is for the procedure you would do to begin Tx.

• What is an I & D or incision and drainage?

• It is the abbreviation of the fluid around the brain and spinal cord

• What is the CSF or cerebrospinal fluid?

• The universal anti-inflammatory medication is abbreviated like this

• What is ASA or “acetyl salicylic acid” aka aspirin

• This bear is actually not a bear but a rodent; you’ll find him in the Out Back (Australian bush country, wilderness) eating eucalyptus leaves

• What is a Koala?

• Three abbreviations for consequences of an embolus ( a fragment of a thrombus or clot) migrating from the clot to vital locations causing death

• What are a CVA, MI or PE also known as strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms CVA=cerebral vascular accident MI=myocardial infarction PE=pulmonary embolism all can be fatal!

• A procedure performed on pus to determine in the lab what bacteria are growing in it; invented by Dr.Robert Koch and involves growing the bacteria and seeing which antibiotic kills it.

• What is a C & S or culture and sensitivity, usually done after an I & D or incision and drainage procedure of an abscess

• CA on the chart suggested the patient might need one or both of these types of tx

• What is chemo tx and radiation tx? (CA is carcinoma or cancer)

• The patient cannot sleep when lying back down, often due to obesity and old age.

• What is sleep apnea? Organs in their abdomen pushing against the lungs/diaphragm prevents the lungs from inhaling and they wake up suddenly in the night not able to breathe unless they sit up and get the weight off their lungs or some cases, their trachea folds over causing asphyxiation (choking)

• Vital signs include these four measurements

• Blood pressure, temp., resp. rate, pulse rate

• It is a mini-CVA

• What is a TIA or transient Ischemic attack. A little clot (embolus) might temporarily block an artery in the brain (ischemia) and grandpa has a lapse of awareness of memory for a moment. Warning of an impending CVA! Infarction, on the other hand, is a sudden and complete loss of blood flow to an organ ex. Myocardial infarction.

• This group of medications will make your throw up

• Emetics (to get rid of poison you swallowed) ex. IPECAC

• This group of medications will make you urinate

• Diuretics (diuresis means to urinate)

• Medications that make you sleep are in this group

• Sedatives like Xanax and Ambiens

• A group of drugs derived from opium plants which can be used for sleep, pain, anesthesia and are highly addictive and often abused

• Narcotics

Two Points

• Following an H & P the pt had reported a Fx which required Sx but got a bone and marrow infection. Decode this and label the dx for “bone/marrow infection”

• Following the history and physical, the patient had a fracture that developed osteomyelitis (bone/marrow infection) which was treated by surgery.

• It is the disorder whereby your thyroid gland produces too much hormone

• What is “hyperthyroidism”?

• The CBC counts RBC’s and WBCs plus blood platelets. What is the medical name for a “blood platelet”? Think about what they do/cause?

• Blood platelets are called “thrombocytes” because they cause blood clotting (a “thrombus” is a clot) Latin word for clot is ……………………………………………………………….hematoma

• If you have a UTI, see this physician

• Urologist for your urinary tract infection

• The nurse was ordered to do PT TID; what was he/she to do?

• Physical therapy three times a day

• The patient’s heart rate was slow so the nurse recorded the rate as this_____

• Bradycardia

• A cell which breaks down bone tissue

• Osteoclast! “clast” is the suffix for breaking down cells, “cyte” is for normal adult cells and “blast” means it’s a baby version of the cell like a osteoblast, myoblast, etc.

• Two people at one time, who were married to Marc Antony

• Cleopatra and Jennifer Lopez

• You need a Bx; who you gonna see?

• For a biopsy, a pathologist

• It’s a cancer of the bone marrow

• What is myelocarcinoma?

• It means “pain during menstruation”

• Dysmenorrhea

• Three possible DDx’s for a pt. presenting with “amenorrhea”

• Had a hysterectomy

• Is having menopause

• Is pregnant

• Take their H & P and the Dx will be easy

• A procedure for extracting fluid from a mother’s uterus prior to delivery

• What is amniocentesis?

• Three terms that all mean to dissect a human cadaver (corpse) after death

• Autopsy, necropsy and post mortem

• Instrument for visualizing your joint

• Arthroscope as in “arthroscopic” surgery

• Instrument for visualizing you abdomen

• Abdominoscope but more commonly uses the Greek word for abdomen “lapar” therefore it’s a “laprascope” as in “Lap-Band Surgery” for obesity

• The pt said they couldn’t stop urinating; the doctor recorded this symptom in the chart

• What is polyuria?

• This means “on the same side” while this means “on the other side”

• What is contralateral and ipsilateral?

• The prefix “septi”indicates this

• This procedure in not being performed sterilely and is likely to be contaminated (like a septic tank) probably because it’s a traumatic wound and already infected

• This means “free of all living organisms”

• Sterile

• You wipe down the patient’s skin with a disinfectant so the skin is said to be this:

• Aseptic (free from pathogenic/disease-causing organisms) but it’s not sterile, just aseptic but at least not septic!

• The surgical removal of the patient’s windpipe

• What is a trachectomy?

• It is the medical name for bedwetting

• Either nocturia or enuresis

• It means “sweet sugary urine”

• What is glycosuria/glucosuria?

• It is an inflammation of a female’s uterine lining

• What is endometriosis?

• It means “to vomit”

• What is emesis?

• It is a medication that removes sensation

• Anesthesia

• It is a medication that kills pain

• Analgesia (“algesia” means pain: “a” means “without”)

• On what part of the body is a laparoscopic procedure done?

• The abdomen in Greek is “lapar” (think Lap banding)

• The abbreviation for an erythrocyte and for a leukocyte

• Rbc and Wbc (red and white blood cells)

• It means “a stomach ache”

• What is dyspepsia or “gastralgia” caused usually by gastritis or acid reflux (GERDs)

• What’s removed in a “cholecystectomy”?

• Gall bladder of the liver; “cyst” is a bladder, “chole” refers to cholesterol-fat especially in the liver, so you don’t confuse this bladder with your urinary bladder, we call the gall bladder your “cholecyst”

• It means something has a “blue color?

• What is cyanosis? (sign of lack of blood supply to something: due to “ischemia”)

• The PT’s goal is to increase the Pt’s ROM

• The physical therapist’s goal is to increase the patient’s Range of Motion

• The feared disorder every mother has for their newborn baby while the infant is sleeping

• What is SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? (sudden collapse of the trachea) thus mothers never sleep really

• Sig. on an Rx means this

• The “signatura” which in Latin means “directions ADA dosage”

• Medicines with this label don’t require an Rx

• What are OTC or over the counter medications?

• It means the circulation in your legs is not WNL and is a common abbreviation for this disorder

• What is PVD or peripheral vascular disease?

• The patient was to take their pain medication PRN; how often should it be used?

• As needed

• The patient was put on an Ad Lib diet; how much could they eat

• As much as they wanted to

• It is an abbreviation for a common disorder among girls who have a lot of dysmenorrhea and is the cause of it

• What is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease or PID and often is the cause of extreme, unpredictable menstrual cramps

• She reported feeling spiders crawling up her legs; the doctor charted the symptom as this

• What are “parasthesias” (feeling things that aren’t there) i.e. “para”normal feelings or ghost feelings

• The patient had trouble breathing; the doctor charted this as this

• What is dyspnea?

• The patient reported difficulty swallowing; it was charted as this symptom

• Dysphagia

• The patient had difficulty speaking; therefore it was charted as…..

• Dysphasia

• The pt couldn’t read correctly;I.e. had this

• Dyslexia ( a lexicon is another name for a dictionary hence “dyslexia”; inability to read in an orderly manner)

• Burning during urination

• Dysuria

• This “nut” has milk inside

• What is a coconut?

• Blood in the urine

• hematuria

• It means “a collapsed lung”

• What is atelectasis?

• It means further to the side than this; both names

• What is “lateral” relative to “medial”?

• It means further down an extremity than something else; both names

• Distal (far away) vs. proximal (close by)

• It means “a curvature of the spine”

• What is scoliosis?

• It is a medication for relieving pain

• What is an analgesic?

• It is a medication for making you urinate

• What is a diuretic? (diuresis means urinating)

• It is a medication for relaxing you

• What is a tranquilizer?

• It is an inflammation of the linings covering the brain and spinal cord

• What is meningitis? The meninges are the membranes covering of the nervous system

• It means “to change a clogged blood vessel to your heart”

• What is an “angio plasty”?

• Kids with small heads crushing their brains

• Microcephaly

• An xray taken to image the arteries of the heart

• What is an angiogram?

• To put a hole in a vein

• Phlebotomy

• The wasting away of a body part

• Dystrophy (“trophy” means to feed or supply)

• It means a “slow gradual loss of blood supply to”

• Ischemia

• To cough up blood

• hemoptysis

• Nose bleed

• epistaxis

• Collapsed lung

• atelectasis

• It means “a sudden loss of blood supply to”

• Infarction

Where the hook and bait are on the line

• THE END