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Medical terminology for patient explaination

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I'd like to introduce some medical terms for patient to complaint their problem more precisely.

There follows the text of the overhead transparencies used by Dr Johnson of U. of Leeds for introductory lectures in anatomy. These cover terminology, bones, joints, segmentation and muscles.

THE ANATOMICAL POSITION

Standing erect Face and eyes forwards Hands at sides, palms forwards Heels together, great toes adjacent

PLANES OF THE BODY

Three, mutually at right angles

Median or sagittal - sagitta, an arrow Divides the body into equal right and left halves Parasagittal divides the body into unequal right and left parts

Coronal (corona, a crown): any vertical plane at right angles to the sagittal: divides the body into anterior and posterior parts

Horizontal (horizon, the horizon): any plane at right angles to the other two: divides the body into superior and inferior parts

Oblique: any other plane

TERMS

In order to define the planes we needed three pairs of other terms:

1. medial - closer to the midline lateral - father from the midline. e.g. (epicanthal folds is medial corner of eyelids)

2. anterior - nearer the front surface of the body

posterior - nearer the back surface of the body.

3. superior - nearer the crown of the head

inferior - nearer the soles of the feet

TERMS IN ZOOLOGY AND EMBRYOLOGY

The human system is inappropriate for other mammals where zoological terms are used. These are also used in embryology and comparative anatomy.

1. ventral = anterior
dorsal = posterior (but nose dorsal augmentation is augmentation of superior part of nose)

2. rostral, cranial,
cephalic = towards the head = superior
caudal = towards the tail = inferior

SPECIAL TERMS FOR SPECIAL BITS

In the limbs we need some special terms. These need care: look at the limbs in the anatomical position.

1. proximal - nearer the trunk, the soggy end
distal - further from the trunk

2. preaxial - the lateral border (thumb or big toe side) e.g. foot bunion almostly occur at preaxial part of foot 
postaxial - the medial border (little finger, little toe side)

3. flexor - anterior of upper limb, posterior of lower limb
extensor - other side of the limb

TERMS OF MOVEMENT

1. to flex - to bend or make an angle to extend - to straighten

2. to abduct - to draw away from the median plane
to adduct - to move towards the median plane

A combination of abduction, adduction, flexion and extension is called circumduction

3. to protrude or protract - move forwards to (retrude) or retract - move backwards

4. to pronate - turn the hand so the palm faces backwards to supinate - turn the hand so the palm faces forwards

5. to medially rotate - to turn a limb around its long axis - so the palm faces inwards to laterally rotate - to turn a limb around its long axis the other way

ODDS AND PIECES OF TURF

• inside, interior, internal
  outside, exterior, external
• invaginations - bulges into
  evaginations - bulges out from
• superficial - near the surface
  deep - further below the surface
• ipsilateral - same side
  contralateral - other side

ANATOMY

Greek to cut up = anatomy; Latin to cut up = dissection

SUBDIVISIONS OF ANATOMY

Embryology - development from egg to adult

Cytology - about cells Histology - about groups of cells, tissues and organs

Neuroanatomy - about nerve cells, and nervous tissues

Gross anatomy - anything you can see and handle without a microscope.

You can download printable version of this page here.

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