One of the most irritating habits of surgeons is their tendency to use medical jargon when talking to patients and their families. It is hard enough for people to figure out how serious their condition is and what is going to happen to them during surgery. Doing so while having it explained to them in a “foreign” language adds needless stress to the situation. Listed below are some commonly used words and expressions that pertain to surgery.
A line - abbreviation for arterial line, a very thin and small hollow tube that is placed in an artery. Allows second to second monitoring of blood pressure and allows nurses to draw blood for testing. Can be placed in wrist, groin or ankle.
ABD - abbreviation for army battle dressing. These bandages are often seen in documentary footage of injured soldiers as the white fluffy bandages taped onto head wounds.
ABG – abbreviation for arterial blood gas, a small sample of blood removed from an artery and analyzed in the lab. Provides information on the amount of oxygen in the blood and how well the lungs and kidneys are working.
ACS – abbreviation for American College of Surgeons, a professional group requiring board-certification and attainment of other practice parameters for entry.
adhesions – scar tissue that forms between loops of bowel after surgery performed in the abdominal cavity.
adenocarcinoma – a type of malignancy where the cancerous cell is columnar in shape.
a fib – slang for atrial fibrillation, an irregular beating of the “top” chambers of the heart or atria.
AMA – abbreviation for American Medical Association
appendectomy – surgical removal of the appendix.
atrium – one of two chambers in the heart that receives blood. The right atrium receives blood from the vena cava before pumping it to the right ventricle and the left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary arteries before pumping it to the left ventricle.
atrophy – wasting away or shrinkage of a body part or tissue.