Medical Terminology

Objectives

• Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:– Identify and define the four word parts– Identify and define a combining form– Analyze and define medical terms– Build medical terms for given definitions

• Mrs. Jones is a 60 y/o admitted thru ER c abdominal pain in the RLQ. CXR, EKG, CBC and ABG’s were done stat. It was decided to perform an exploratory laparotomy, but suspects she will end up needing a bilateral salpingoophorectomy.

• pneumonultramicroscopicsilicovolcanonconiosis

Origins of medical language

• Current medical vocabulary includes terms built from Greek and Latin word parts, some which were used by Hippocrates and Aristotle over 2000 years ago

Word Parts / Building Blocks

•Medical terms are built from word parts with some or all of the

following components:

•Word roots

•Suffixes

•Prefixes

•Combining vowels

•Combining forms

Word Root

• The word root is the foundation of the word

• Usually indicates the part of the body involved

• All medical terms

must have one or more word roots

Examples:

• In the word…………………..play/er (play is the word root)

• In the medical term …………arthr/itis

arthr (which means joint) is the word root

• In the medical term………….hepat/it ishepat (which means liver) is the word root

Suffixes • Suffix is the word part attached

to the end of the word root to modify its meaning.

• The suffix usually indicates the procedure, disease, or condition

• All medical terms must have a suffix.

Examples:

• In the medical term…………..hepat/ic -ic (which means pertaining to) is the suffix

The term hepatic means pertaining to the liver

• In the medical term ………… hepat/itis

-itis (which means inflammation) is the suffix

The term hepatitis means inflammation of the liver (inflammation being a condition)

Prefix

• The prefix is a word part that is attached to the beginning of the word root to modify its meaning.

• It usually indicates location, time, color, or number

• Not all medical terms have prefixes

Examples:

• In the word ………………...re/playre- is the prefix

• In the medical term ………sub /hepat /ic

sub- (which means under)

The medical term subhepatic means pertaining to under the liver

Combining Vowel

• It links the root to the suffix or the root to another root

• The combining vowel is usually an “O”

• A combining vowel has no meaning of its own. It just joins word parts and makes them easier to pronounce

Combining vowels

• Guideline #1:– When connecting a root and a suffix a

combining vowel is used unless the suffix begins with a vowel

• Guideline #2:– When connecting two word roots, a

combining vowel is usually used even if vowels are present at the junction

Exercise 1:Complete the phrases with the correct word part:

1. A __ is attached at the beginning of a word root

2. ___ are usually an “o”

3. All medical terms contain one

or more ___

4. A ____is attached at the end of a word root.

5. The ______ _____ is the word root with the combining vowel attached

• True or False6. There is always a prefix at the

beginning of a medical term

7. A combining vowel is always used when connecting a word root and a suffix

8. A prefix modifies the meaning of the word

9. A combining vowel is used to ease pronunciation

10.“I” is the most commonly used combing vowel

11.The word root is the core of a medical term

12.A combining vowel is used between a prefix and word root

13.A combining form is a word part

Analyzing and defining Medical Terms

osteoarthropathyTo analyze a medical term divide it into word parts, label each word parts, and label the combining forms.

Divide the word with slashes:

oste / o/ arthr / o/ pathyLabel each word part by using the following abbreviations:

WR WORD ROOT

P PREFIX

S SUFFIX

CV COMBINING VOWEL

Example of dividing and labeling:

WR CV WR CV S

Oste / o / arthr /o / pathy CF CF

Putting it together!

• To define medical terms apply the meaning of each word part in the term.

• Begin by defining the suffix, then move to the beginning of the term to complete the definition

Fundamental rules for combining word parts

Word part Abbr. Definition

Root wr Gives essential meaning to the wordUsually body part involved

Suffix s is the word endingUsually indicates, disease, procedure, or condition

Prefix p Added to the beginning. Usually indicates times, number, color, position

Combing vowel

cv Connects roots to suffixes and root to other roots to make pronunciation easier

Combining form

cf Is the combination of the root and combining vowel

Root words

• Acr/o - extremities

• angi/o - vessel

• arthr/o – joint

Common Medical Root Words

• cardi/o – heart

• cephal/o – head

• col/o - colon

• cost/o – ribs

• crani/o - skull

• cyst/o –

sac containing fluidurinary bladder

•derm/o, dermat/o, cutane – skin

• enter/o - intestines

• gastr/o - stomach

• hem/o – blood

hemat/o

• hepat/o - liver

• my/o – muscle

• nephr/o, ren/o – kidney

• neur/o – nerve

• or/o - mouth

• oste/o - bone

• ot/o – ear

• pneum/o

• pulmon/o, - Lung

• psych/o -mind

•rhin/o – nose

•splen/o – spleen

•thorac/o - chest

Colors

• cyan/o blue

• erythr/o red

• leuk/o white

• melan/o black

• xanth/o yellow

Common Medical Suffixes • -ac, -al, -ic pertaining to• -algia pain• -ectomy surgical removal• -itis inflammation • -malacia softening• -megaly enlargement • -ology the study of• -ologist specialist

Common Medical Suffixes

• -oid -like, resembling

• -osis - abnormal condition

• -otomy - cut into

• -pathy – disease

• -scope - instrument to visually examine

• -oma -tumor

Common Medical Prefixes • a - absence of; without • ab- away from • ad- toward, in the direction of • ante- before• anti- against• auto - self• dys- difficult, painful• dors- back • endo- within• epi- above, upon

Common Medical Prefixes (cont.)• hemi- half

• hyper- over, above, increased

• hypo- below, under, decreased • inter- between, among • intra- within, inside • macro- large• mal – bad• micro - small• peri - surrounding, around • poly- many

Common Medical Prefixes

• post - after• sub- under, less, below • super- above, excessive,

beyond • tachy - fast

(stop here)

Common Medical Abbreviations

• c – with• s – without• a – before• p – after• po – by mouth• prn – as needed• NPO – nothing by mouth

Common medical Abreviations

• ASAP – as soon as possible

• ABG’s - arterial blood gases

• ac – before meals• amb – ambulate or to

walk• BP – blood pressure• BS – blood sugar

• CBC – complete blood count

• c/o – complaining of• CXR – chest x-ray

Common Medical Abbreviations

• DNR – do not resuscitate• EKG – electrocardiogram• ER - emergency room• GI – gastrointestinal• ICU – intensive care unit• PACU – post-anesthesia

care unit• PT - physical therapy• Pt - patient

• SOB – shortness of breath

• VS – vital signs• W/C – wheel chair• wnl - within normal

limits• y/o – year old

Common Medical Abbreviations

• stat – immediately

• IV – intravenous (within a vein)

• q.d. – every day• b.i.d. – two times a

day• t.i.d. – three times a

day• q.i.d – four times a

day• Rx – prescription• Tx - treatment

Common Medical Abbreviations

• Male

• female

Communication Connection

• A medication is to be taken once every day (q.d.), but a health care provider mistakenly writes q.i.d. on the prescription. What will be the result of writing the incorrect abbreviation?

• A 76 y/o__ admitted amb. into the ER. c/o SOB and appears to be cyanotic. Tests ordered: ABG’s, CBC, CXR, and EKG STAT. IV started with 18 gauge butterfly infusing D5W at 20 gtts/min. VS wnl. Pt. to be sent to ICU per w/c ASAP. RX of Lanoxin 25 mg to be given po c meals qd