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Every profession has its own language to describe the profession, its duties, and its equipment, and health care is no exception. During the Natinal certification examination, you’ll need to draw on your knowledge of medical terminology, both to remember specific conditions and procedures and to remember how to decode unfamiliar terms. Let’s review the various facets of medical terminology.
Where do Medical Terms Come From?
Medical terms take two forms: those that are built on root words and those that are not.
Words Based on Root Words
What’s a Root Word?
A root word serves as the foundation on which a medical term is formed. Each root word has a specific meaning, but other word parts—prefixes, suffixes, and linking or combining vowels, all of which we’ll discuss later in this section—can be attached to modify the root word. With the use of these other word parts, one root word can be made into many terms, each with a different meaning.
The vocabulary of health care is largely built on root words drawn from two ancient languages:
• Greek root words are generally used to describe diseases, conditions, and treatments: rhinoplasty, the medical term for a “nose job,” is built on the root word rhino (nose).
The great thing about root word–based terms is that if you’re familiar with the various word parts, you can figure out what an unfamiliar term means by decoding its parts. The first thing to do when you encounter a term like this on your exam is to identify the root word. Once you’ve done that, check for a prefix and then a suffix to figure out what is being said about the root word. (As our example as we make our way through this review, we’ll use the root word derm, taken from the Greek word for “skin.”)”
What’s a Prefix?
A prefix is a word part that is placed in front of a root word to modify it and provide additional information. (The suffix pre/, in fact, means “before”; it’s modifying the root word fix, “to attach.”) For example, putting the prefix epi/ (meaning “above”) in front of our example root word, derm, yields the term epidermis, the name given to the top layer of the skin.
Table 1.1 lists some of the prefixes you’re most likely to encounter on your exam and in surgical technology work.
TABLE 1.1
Prefixes Commonly Used in Health Care
| Prefix | Definition | Example |
| A/ | An absence of | Aseptic (an absence of infection) |
| Angi/o | Blood vessels | Angiography (a procedure used to visualize a blood vessel or vessels) |
| Arthr/o | Joint or joints | Arthroscopy (use of a scope to visualize the inside of a joint) |
| Bi/ | Two | Bilateral salpingectomy (removal of both fallopian tubes) |
| Colon/o | Large intestine | Colectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the large intestine) |
| Colp/o | Vagina | Colposcopy (visualization of the vagina with the use of a scope) |
| Cyst/o | Bladder | Cystoscopy (use of a scope to visualize the inside of the bladder) |
| Enceph/a | Brain | Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) |
| Gastr/o | Stomach | Gastrectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the stomach) |
| Hepat/o | Liver | Hepatectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the liver) |
| Hyster/ | Uterus | Hysterectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the uterus) |
| Hydr/o | An accumulation of fluid | Hydrocelectomy (surgery to remove a fluid-filled sac in the scrotum) |
| Intra/ | Within or between | Intradermal (in the skin or between layers of the skin) |
| Lamin/ | Part of the vertebral arch | Laminectomy (surgery to remove part of the vertebral arch) |
| Lapar/o | Abdomen | Laparotomy (surgery involving an incision to gain access to the abdominal cavity) |
| Lip/o | Fat | Liposuction (a procedure in which fat is sucked from the body) |
| Lob/o | Lobe | Lobectomy (surgery to remove a lobe—e.g., from the liver or a lung) |
| Mamm/o | Breast | Mammoplasty (surgery to improve the appearance of the breast) |
| Myc/o | Fungus | Mycology (study of fungi) |
| Myo/ | Muscle | Myology (study of the muscular system) |
| Nephr/o | Kidney | Nephrectomy (surgery to remove all or part of a kidney) |
| Oophor/ | Ovary | Oophorectomy (surgery to remove all or part of an ovary) |
| Orchid/ | Testes | Orchiectomy (surgical removal of a testicle) |
| Thorac/o | Chest | Thoracotomy (surgery involving an incision of the chest to gain access to the thoracic cavity) |
TABLE 1.2
Suffixes Commonly Encountered in Surgery
| Suffix | Definition | Example |
| -ar | Taking the form, appearance, or duties of | Semicircular (taking the form of a semicircle) |
| -ic | Pertaining to | Hemorrhagic (pertaining to hemorrhage, loss of blood) |
| -itis | Inflammation | Appendicitis (inflammation of the vermiform appendix) |
| -ous | Having the quality of | Cancerous (denoting malignancy) |
| -centesis | A surgical puncture | Thoracocentesis (puncture of the chest cavity, generally to remove fluid or air) |
| -desis | Fusion of two parts into one for the purpose of stabilization | Arthrodesis (surgical fusion of a joint) |
| -ectomy | Surgical removal | Gastrectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the stomach) |
| -opsy | To look at | Biopsy (examination of a tissue specimen for the purpose of diagnosis) |
| -o/scopy | Visualization with the use of a scope | Arthroscopy (use of a scope to visualize the inside of a joint) |
| -ostomy | To form a new opening by means of surgery | Colostomy (surgical procedure in which an opening is made in the abdomen to which one of the intestines is fixed) |
| -otomy | Surgical incision | Myringotomy (surgical incision of the eardrum) |
| -pexy | To fix or to secure | Mastopexy (surgery to raise sagging breasts) |
| -plasty | Surgical modification or reshaping (think plastic surgery) | Hemiarthroplasty (surgery in which half of the hip joint is replaced with a prosthesis) |
| -rrhaphy | To strengthen, usually with the use of sutures | Herniorrhaphy (hernia repair) |
What’s a Suffix?
A suffix is a word part that is added to the end of a root word to modify it or provide more information. Adding the suffix –ology, “the study of,” to our example root word, derm, results in the term dermatology, “study of the skin.” Table 1.2 shows some of the suffixes that are commonly used in health care.
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