Medical terminology abbreviations

Medical Terminology AbbreviationsArlene RiveraJuly 21st 2010 Medical Terminology Class

PE TUBE: Pressure equalizing tube

• Small tube surgically placed in a child’s ear to assist in drainage of infection.

• PE tube surgery involves the creation of a small hole in the eardrum called a myringotomy

• PE tube placement helps avoid complications of chronic ear disease which include:

- Permanent holes in theAdhesive otitis media eardrum- Scarring of the eardrum and bones- Bone deterioration- Hearing loss

EENT: eye, ear, nose, and throat

BC: bone conduction

• conduction of sound waves to the inner ear through the bones of the skull.

• Two types of bone conduction are recognized- compressional bone conduction: high-pitched sounds

cause the segments of the skull to vibrate individually. - inertial bone conduction: low-pitched sounds vibrate the

entire skull, causing it to move while the suspended sensory parts of the inner ear remain at rest.

AU: both ears

OM: otitis media

•Commonly referred to as middle ear infection•Often preceded by an upper repository infection•Seen frequently in children.

EM: emmetropia•a state of proper correlation between the

refractive system of the eye and the axial length of the eyeball, rays of light entering the eye parallel to the optic axis being brought to focus exactly on the retina.

•State of normal vision

XT: exotropia

•outward turning of the eye•Also called wall-eyed•An example of strabismus (muscle

weakness)

OS: left eye

EOM: extraocular movement

•Six muscles connect the actual eyeball to the skull which allow for change in the direction of each eye’s sightline.

•There are four rectus muscles : (straight) up and down movement

•There are two oblique muscles: (on an angle) diagonal movement

VA: visual acuity

•“acuity” acuitas (latin), which means sharpness.

•One’s visual acuity is an indication of the clarity or clearness of one’s vision. 

• It is a measurement of how well a person sees. •A snellden chart is used to measure a persons

acuity.