Medical Terminology: Anatomy Terms

• Medical terminology is a specialized vocabulary used in healthcare
• It allows healthcare professionals to communicate clearly and precisely

Anatomical Terms

• Anatomical position: standing erect, face forward, arms at sides, palms forward, feet parallel
• Anatomical planes divide the body into sections:
  • Sagittal: divides the body into left and right portions
  • Midsagittal (median): divides the body into equal left and right halves
  • Frontal (coronal): divides the body into anterior (front) and posterior (back) portions
  • Transverse (horizontal): divides the body into superior (upper) and inferior (lower) portions
• Directional terms describe the location of structures relative to each other:
  • Superior (cranial): toward the head
  • Inferior (caudal): toward the feet
  • Anterior (ventral): toward the front
  • Posterior (dorsal): toward the back
  • Medial: toward the midline of the body
  • Lateral: away from the midline of the body
  • Proximal: closer to the point of attachment or origin
  • Distal: farther from the point of attachment or origin
• Body cavities:
  • Dorsal cavity: includes the cranial cavity (brain) and vertebral cavity (spinal cord)
  • Ventral cavity: includes the thoracic cavity (heart and lungs) and abdominopelvic cavity (abdominal and pelvic organs)
  • Abdominopelvic regions: divided into nine regions (right hypochondriac, epigastric, left hypochondriac, right lumbar, umbilical, left lumbar, right iliac, hypogastric, left iliac) or four quadrants (right upper, left upper, right lower, left lower)
• Anatomical terms describe body movements:
  • Flexion: decreasing the angle between two body parts
  • Extension: increasing the angle between two body parts
  • Abduction: moving a body part away from the midline
  • Adduction: moving a body part toward the midline
  • Rotation: moving a body part around its axis
  • Circumduction: moving a body part in a circular path

Prefixes and Suffixes

• Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word root to modify its meaning
  • a- or an-: without, absence of
  • ab-: away from
  • ad-: toward, near
  • ante-: before
  • bi-: two
  • brady-: slow
  • circum-: around
  • contra-: against, opposite
  • dys-: difficult, painful, abnormal
  • endo-: within, inner
  • epi-: upon, above
  • ex-: out, away from
  • hemi-: half
  • hyper-: excessive, above normal
  • hypo-: deficient, below normal
  • inter-: between
  • intra-: within
  • macro-: large
  • micro-: small
  • mono-: one
  • neo-: new
  • para-: near, beside, abnormal
  • per-: through
  • poly-: many, excessive
  • post-: after, behind
  • pre-: before
  • re-: again, back
  • retro-: backward, behind
  • sub-: below, under
  • super-: above, excessive
  • tachy-: rapid, fast
  • trans-: across, through
  • uni-: one
• Suffixes are added to the end of a word root to modify its meaning
  • -algia: pain
  • -ectomy: surgical removal
  • -emia: blood condition
  • -gram: record, image
  • -graph: instrument for recording
  • -graphy: process of recording
  • -itis: inflammation
  • -logy: study of
  • -oma: tumor
  • -osis: condition, usually abnormal
  • -pathy: disease
  • -plasty: surgical repair
  • -scope: instrument for viewing
  • -scopy: process of viewing
  • -stomy: surgical opening
  • -tomy: incision, cutting into

Medical Abbreviations

• Medical abbreviations are shortened forms of medical terms used for efficiency
• Common abbreviations:
  • bid: twice a day
  • tid: three times a day
  • qid: four times a day
  • prn: as needed
  • NPO: nothing by mouth
  • BP: blood pressure
  • HR: heart rate
  • RR: respiratory rate
  • CBC: complete blood count
  • ECG/EKG: electrocardiogram
  • IV: intravenous
  • IM: intramuscular
  • PO: by mouth (per os)
  • stat: immediately
  • Rx: prescription
• It is important to use standardized abbreviations to avoid errors.

Disease Terminology

• Disease terminology is used to describe diseases, disorders, and conditions
• Terms related to disease causes:
  • Etiology: the study of the causes of diseases
  • Idiopathic: disease of unknown cause
  • Iatrogenic: disease caused by medical treatment
• Terms related to disease development:
  • Pathology: the study of disease
  • Pathogenesis: the development of disease
  • Acute: rapid onset, short duration
  • Chronic: slow onset, long duration
• Terms related to disease characteristics:
  • Sign: objective evidence of disease (e.g., fever, rash)
  • Symptom: subjective experience of disease (e.g., pain, fatigue)
  • Syndrome: a set of signs and symptoms that occur together
• Terms related to disease prognosis:
  • Diagnosis: identification of a disease
  • Prognosis: prediction of the course and outcome of a disease
  • Remission: decrease or absence of disease signs and symptoms
  • Relapse: return of disease signs and symptoms
• Disease processes can be described using specific terms:
  • Inflammation: body's response to injury or infection
  • Infection: invasion of the body by pathogens
  • Neoplasm: abnormal growth of tissue (tumor)
  • Ischemia: deficiency of blood supply
  • Necrosis: tissue death