1. Medical Terminology
Surgical and
Diagnostic Terms

2. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
This segment deals with word parts that pertain to surgical procedures and are used to describe means of treating a disease or injury as well as the diagnostic terms used
Many terms referring to body structures and how they are used in descriptions of surgery and diagnostic terminology are also introduced

3. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Surgery is the treatment of disease, injury or deformity by manual or operative methods
Diagnosis is the identification of disease or condition by scientific evaluation of symptoms, signs, history, tests or procedures

4. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Commonly used surgical suffixes:
▪ -tomy (to cut)
▪ -ectomy (excision)
▪ -tome (cutting instrument)
▪ -scopy (visual exam)
▪ -scope (viewing instrument)
▪ -lysis (destroy)

5. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Commonly used surgical suffixes:
▪ -centesis (surgical puncture)
▪ -pexy (surgical fixation)
▪ -plasty (surgical repair)
▪ -tripsy (surgical crushing)
▪ -rrhaphy (suture)

6. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Commonly used diagnostic suffixes:
▪ -algia (pain)
▪ -dynia (pain)
▪ -oid (resembling)
▪ -ectasia (stretch, dilate)
▪ -ectasis (stretch, dilate)
▪ -edema (swelling)

7. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Commonly used diagnostic suffixes:
▪ -emesis (vomit)
▪ -malacia (soft)
▪ -megaly (enlargement)
▪ -stasis (stoppage, stablity)
▪ -penia (deficiency)

8. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Commonly used diagnostic suffixes:
▪ -rrhage (excessive bleeding)
▪ -rrhea (flow)
▪ -rrhexis (rupture)
▪ -spasm (twitch)
▪ -opaque (impervious to light)

9. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Body structure root words and combing forms:
▪ cutane(o) (skin)
▪ derm(a) (skin)
▪ blephar(o) (eyelid)
▪ encephal(o) (brain)
▪ cerebr(o) (brain)
▪ tonsill(o) (tonsil)

10. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Body structure root words and combing forms:
▪ carp(o) (wrist)
▪ chir(o) (hand)
▪ mamm(o) (breast)
▪ mast(o) (breast)
▪ vas(o) (vessel)
▪ angi(o) (vessel)

11. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Body structure root words and combing forms:
▪ aden(o) (gland)
▪ append(o) (appendix)
▪ col(o) (colon)
▪ amni(o) (amnion)
▪ oste(o) (bone)

12. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Instrument root words and combing forms:
▪ son(o) (sound)
▪ ech(o) (sound)
▪ fluor(o) (light emission)
▪ electr(o) (electric)

13. Additional Terminology
Dilation - stretched beyond normal limits
Adhesion - a fibrous band or structure that abnormally attaches body parts
Excision - removal of a structure
Incision - a cut or wound produced by a sharp object

14. Additional Terminology
Symptom - subjective evidence of a patient’s disease or condition
Prognosis - prediction of a probable outcome of a disease or condition
Suture - closing an opening by stitches
Stoma - artificially produced opening in a body structure

15. Additional Terminology
Resection - removal of a portion of a body structure
Spasm - sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle
Prolapse - the drooping or sagging of a body structure

16. Surgical & Diagnostic Terms
Be able to recognize or write the meanings of the abbreviations at the back of the chapter