TERMINOLOGY SUFFIXES Heather Wipijewski CVT ALAT This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded under the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This solution is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.
Suffix – Found at the end of a word. -ectomy: Surgical removal Mastectomy – surgical removal of breast or mammary glands. -pexy: Suture to stabilize Gastropexy – surgically stabilizing the stomach to the abdominal wall (tacking) -plasty: Surgically repair Rhinoplasty – Surgically repair the nose (nose job) Note that the “o” in rhino was NOT removed. WHY?Note that the “o” in rhino was NOT removed. WHY?
-stomy: Surgically created opening Colostomy – surgically created opening between colon and outside of body. - tomy: Cutting into Enterotomy – to cut into the small intestine NOTE – tomy and stomy look very much alike, so it’s very important to read the word carefully, determine what the root word is and what the suffix is.
- Centesis: Surgical puncture to remove fluid or gas Cystocentesis – to puncture the bladder with a needle to remove urine. -Gram: Record of Electrocardiogram – Hard copy record of electrical current of the heart. -Graph: Instrument used to record Electrocardiograph – Instrument used to record the electrical currents of the heart ( the print out from this machine would be the electrocardiogram
-Graphy: Procedure that records Electrocardiography – The procedure used to record the electrical current of the heart. Important to realize the difference between –graph, -graphy and –gram. -Lysis: Separation or breakdown – separation of the urine into its constituents. Urinalysis – separation of the urine into its constituents. Hemolysis – Breakdown of blood (specifically red blood cells)
-scope: Instrument used to visually examine -scopy: Procedure to visually examine. Arthroscope vs. ArthroscopyArthroscope vs. Arthroscopy Arthro/scope (instrument) Arthro/scopy (procedure) -therapy: treatment Chemotherapy – Treatment with chemical substances or drugs.
-algia/-dynia: pain Arthralgia/Arthrodynia – joint pain -itis: Inflammation Hepatitis – Inflammation of the liver -malacia: abnormal softening Osteomalacia – abnormal softening of bone -megaly: enlargement Cardiomegaly – enlargement of the heart
-osis: abnormal condition Cardiosis – abnormal condition of the heart Can you break this word down? Root vs. suffix? -pathy: disease Enteropathy – disease of the small intestine -sclerosis: abnormal hardening Arteriosclerosis – abnormal hardening of the arteries. -um: structure Pericardium – structure surrounding the heart Can you break this word down?
-rrhagia or –rrhage – bursting forth Hemorrhage – bursting forth of blood from the vessels. -rrhaphy – to suture Enterorrhaphy – suturing of the small intestines. -rrhea – flow, discharge Diarrhea – discharge of the bowels. -rrhexis – rupture Myorrhexis – rupture of the muscle
Allow for easier pronounciation of a word. -ac (cardiac) -al (renal) -an (ovarian) -ar (lumbar) -ary (alimentary) -eal (laryngeal) -ic (enteric) -ine (uterine) -ous (cutaneous) -tic (nephrotic)
For each of the following words – let’s break them down into prefix, root and suffix and define. Example – Gastritis = gastr/itis inflammation of the stomach Gastric Gingivitis Presurgical Ovariohysterectomy Subcutaneous Hepatomegaly