Medical Terminology

Medical terminology is a form of jargon specific to the medical profession.  It helps the profession work more efficiently, but makes it harder for you to understand what is going on.  Unfortunately the terminology is then regularly used in medical reports.

It is beyond the scope of this page to cover all medical terminology.  However, the following are the most common terms you will find in medical reports:

Abduction: Movement of the limb away from the trunk/body

Acute: Symptoms are short lived or with rapid onset

Acute-on-Chronic: Flare-up of pre-existing condition which settles on treatment but chronicity remains

Adduction: Bringing or moving towards the midline

Amnesia: Lack of recall of events

Anaesthesia: Lack of feeling due to nerve damage

Anatomy: Study of the construction of the body and its parts

Anterior or ventral: Front of patient

Cervical Spondylosis: A form of degenerative joint and disc disease affecting the cervical vertebrae and resulting in the compression of associated nerve roots.  It is a form of osteoarthritis of the neck

Chronic: Symptoms persist for a long time with little change or extremely slow progression over a long period

Closed Fracture: One that does not produce an open wound

Comminuted Fracture: One in which the bone is splintered or crushed

Compound Fracture: Where there is more than one break

Crepitus: A clinical sign characterised by a peculiar crackling, crinkly, or grating feeling or sound under the skin, around the lungs, or in the joints.  Crepitus in soft tissues is often due to gas, most often air, that has penetrated and infiltrated an area where it should not normally be. Crepitus in a joint can represent cartilage wear in the joint space.

Depressed Fracture (of the skull): The fractured area presses on the brain

Dislocation: Displacement of a bone from a joint

Distal: Furthest from the midline

Extension: Movement between two joints which increases the angle

Flexion: Movement between two joints which decreases the angle

Fracture: A broken bone

Fracture Dislocation: A fracture of a bone near a joint also having a dislocation

Greenstick Fracture: Partial splintering of bone: sustained only by children

Haematoma: Any collection of blood outside a blood vessel.  Bruises are visible haematomas

History: What happened to the patient at the time of the incident or accident

Inflammation: Seen where there is an infection or an infected injury; affected site is red, swollen and hot

Inter: Between

Intra: Inside

Lateral: Furthest from the midline

Ligament: Strong fibrous sheet holding bones together especially at joints.  The ligament prevents abnormal movement.  When a ligament is torn limb movement can be floppy and may need surgical repair.  A sprain or strain is an incomplete ligament tear.

Medial: Close to the midline

Neurosis: Faulty or inefficient way of dealing with anxiety

Oedema: Swelling (usually through retention of fluid)

Open Fracture: When broken bone pierces the skin

Osteoarthritis: Wear and tear in any joint usually due to repeated minor injuries and aging

Osteoporosis: Thinning of bones occurring in the elderly especially women.  As a result the bones fracture more easily and heal with more difficulty

Paraesthesia: Tingling sensation usually in a limb due to nerve damage

Past History: Disease and operations the patient has had before the incident or accident.  these may have a bearing on the type of injury sustained and also on recovery

Pathology: Study of what has gone wrong whether by accident or disease

Physiology: Study of how the normal body works

Posterior or dorsal: Back of patient

Paralysis: Inability to move part of the body

Prognosis: Medical assessment of how long it will take for recovery to be complete (or length of time before death is likely to occur)

Proximal: Near to the point of reference, usually the trunk

Psychosis: Derangement of personality, e.g. illusions, delusions, depression, agitation, loss of tough with reality

Retrograde Amnesia: Lack of recall of events before an accident

Rheumatism: Lay word for any ache in the joints

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Serious, progressive disease which leads to joint destruction and deformity, eventually self-arresting

Simple Fracture: When a bone breaks cleanly in two

Subdural Haematoma: Bleeding under the skull, compressing the brain

Subluxation: Incomplete or partial dislocation of a bone from a joint

Tendon: Strong fibrous band that connects a muscle to a bone

Tendonitis: Inflammation of tendons and of tendon-muscle attachments

Tinnitus: Sounds (of varying type and volume) heard continuously in the ear.  Cause can often be unknown and treatment is generally unlikely to solve the problem.

Wound Closure: The act of bringing skin edges together by stitches (sutures), staples, tissue glue or butterflies (steristrips)

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