Comp3 Unit1b Lecture Slides

Terminology in Healthcare and Public Health Settings

Understanding Medical Words

Lecture b Prefixes and SuffixesThis material Comp3_Unit1 was developed by The University of Alabama Birmingham, funded by the Department of Health and

Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number 1U24OC000023

Understanding Medical WordsLearning Objectives

• Discuss the four parts of medical terms• Recognize word roots and combining forms• Identify the most common prefixes and suffixes• Describe the anatomical positions• Define the body planes• Identify regions of the body• Define directional and positional terms• Build, divide, spell and pronounce common

medical words2Health IT Workforce Curriculum

Version 3.0/Spring 2012

Terminology in Healthcare and Public Health Settings Understanding Medical Words

Lecture b

Prefix

• Added to the beginning of a term

• May add meaning such as:– location of organ “inter” = between– number of parts “hemi” = half– time (frequency) “pre” = before

3Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 3.0/Spring 2012


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Examples of Prefixes

ab away fromante before, forward

brady slowendo within, innerhyper above, beyondhypo under, deficient



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Examples of Prefixes (continued)

infra beneath, belowinter among, between

macro largemicro smallperi aroundpost after, behindpre before, in front of



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Examples of Prefixes (continued)

retro backward, behindsub below, under

super above, excesstachy fasttrans across, throughultra beyond, excess



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Suffix• Attached to the end of a term

• Adds meaning such as:– condition “algia” = pain– disease “it is” = inflammation– procedure “ectomy” = removal of

• All medical terms must have a suffix– Only mandatory word part



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Examples of Suffixesalgia paincise cut

dynia pain, swellingectasis dilatation

itis inflammationlogy study oflysis destruction



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Examples of Suffixes (continued)megaly enlargement, large

oma tumorosis condition, usually abnormal

pathy diseaserrhea discharge, flow

sclerosis hardeningstenosis narrowing

taxis movementtrophy growth



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Adjective Suffixes

• Suffix may be used to convert a word root into a complete word

• These adjective suffixes can mean “pertaining to”

• New word can then be used to modify another word



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Adjective Suffix Example

• To state that a patient has an ulcer in his stomach:– gastr/o = stomach– ic = pertaining to– gastric = pertaining to the stomach

Therefore, a gastric ulcer is an ulcer found in the stomach.



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Procedures, Diagnosis and Surgery Suffixes

centesis surgical puncture to remove fluid

ectomy cut out, surgical removal

gram recording or picture

meter device for measuring

ostomy surgical opening



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Procedures, Diagnosis and Surgery Suffixes (continued)

otomy cutting into

pexy surgical fixation

plasty surgical reconstruction

rrhaphy suture

scope instrument for viewing



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Word Building• Putting together the various parts to form a

variety of terms to convey the necessary information

• Begins with knowing the meaning of the various parts in order to select thecorrect ones

• Always remember the rules regarding the location of each word part



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Interpreting Medical Terms

• Term to be translated– echocardiogram

• Divide the term into its word parts– echo / cardi / o / gram



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Interpreting Medical Terms • Define each word part

– echo = using ultrasonic waves– cardi = heart– o = combining vowel, no meaning– gram = recording

• Combine the meanings of the word parts– Recording of a heart test using ultrasonic

waves



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Singular and Plural Endings• Many medical terms come from Greek or

Latin words– Rules for forming plurals are different from

English• Plural of bacterium is bacteria (not

bacteriums)• Other words use English rules

– Plural of ventricle is ventricles



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General Rules for PluralsWord Ends In Singular Plural

–a vertebra vertebrae

-ax thorax thoraces

-ex or -ix appendix appendices

-is metastasis metastases

-ma sarcoma sarcomata

-nx phalanx phalanges

-on ganglion ganglia

-us nucleus nuclei

-um ovum ova

-y biopsy biopsies



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Abbreviations

• Commonly used to save time• Can be confusing• If you are concerned about confusion,

spell out the term• Do not use your own personal

abbreviations



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Understanding Medical WordsSummary – Prefixes and Suffixes

• Common prefixes and suffixes• Word building• Singular and Plural endings



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For additional information on contentcovered in this unit, please visit:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicalwords/



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Understanding Medical Words References – Lecture b

References • Understanding medical words: a tutorial from the National Library of

Medicine [Internet]. 2011 Nov 27. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicalwords/



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Comp3 Unit1b Lecture Slides

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