You will need to be able to apply prefixes to the words used every day in medical terminology. Keep in mind that the following is not by any stretch the end-all, be-all, conclusive list of medical words, but it’s a nice sampling of prefixes at work.
In your body
Here are some common examples of prefixes in body-related words. You can see a nice mix of amounts, directions, and changes in these prefixes:
Amenorrhea: Without period or menses, as in pregnancy
Anovulatory: Ovaries not releasing eggs, can be hormonally induced
Bilateral: Lateral meaning side; both sides
Bradycardia: Slow heart rate
Bradyarrhythmia: Slow, irregular heartbeat
Circumferential: Around the outside
Dysfunctional: Difficult or painful; dysfunctional uterine bleeding
Exocervix: Part of the cervix away from the uterus
Endocervix: Inner part of cervix, within the uterus
Hypertension: Excessive or high blood pressure
Hyperemesis: Excessive vomiting
Hypotensive: Low or below normal blood pressure
Infraumbilical: Below or beneath the umbilicus
Multiloculated: A tumor or cyst having many or multiple locules, small spaces or cavities often filled with fluid
Oliguria: Scanty, inadequate amount of urine production
Oligomenorrhea: Scanty menstrual flow
Paraovarian: Beside an ovary
Pericardial: Around the heart
Periurethral: Around the opening of the urethra
Polydipsia: Excessive thirst (symptom of diabetes)
Polyuria: Excessive urination (also symptom of diabetes)
Pseudocyst: A structure resembling a cyst; but not an actual cyst
Subcostal: Beneath or under the ribs
Subumbilical: Area beneath or under the umbilicus
In the doctor’s office and hospital
Check out this sampling of words you might hear around the physician’s office or in the hospital ER:
Abduction: Moving a body part away from the point of origin
This term is used in orthopedics to test range of motion of an arm or leg. In medical transcription, it is often dictated as “A-B-duction” to distinguish from “A-D-duction,” meaning the opposite.
Adduction: Moving towards the point of origin; opposite of abduction; usually dictated or pronounced “A-D-duction.”
Autologous bone graft: Bone taken from donor site on body to use as a graft on another part of the body
Dissection: To cut or slice into two parts
Intrauterine device: Contraceptive device inside or within uterus
Intravenous: Within a vein; injection within a vein (not between)
Intramuscular: Injection into a muscle, not between
Macroscopic: Large enough to be seen with the naked eye
Multiparous: Condition of having had many children
Perioperative: Period of time around or during an operative procedure
Postnatal: After or following giving birth
Postoperative: Period of time following an operative procedure
Preoperative: Period of time before an operative procedure
Prenatal: Period of time before giving birth (a.k.a. “the pregnancy”)
Premenstrual: Period of time before a menstrual period begins
Pseudopregnancy: A false pregnancy
Tachycardia: Rapid or fast heart rate
Tachyarrhythmia: Rapid or fast heart arrhythmia
In the pharmacy and research lab
Heaven knows there are tons of long, hard-to-spell, 25-cent words used in the pharmacy and the lab. Here’s a quick taste:
Anti-inflammatory: Agent opposing or fighting against inflammation
Contraindication: Inadvisable, to be avoided
In drug therapy, certain drugs are contraindicated in the presence of other drugs with which they interact.
Microscopic: Very small; only seen using a microscope
Neoplasia: Condition of new or recent (cell) growth
Neoplasm: New or recent growth; could be a tumor or cyst
