Q #01: Distinguish between diagnostic and procedural suffixes. List 5 examples of each along with their meanings. Indicate why it
is important to know the difference between the diagnostic suffix and the procedural suffix. How does this difference affect the
meaning of a medical term?
Answer:
Suffix is a letter or a group of letters that is added to the end of a word to change its meaning or to form a different word. Suffixes
are divided in to two groups:
1. Diagnostic suffixes.
2. Procedural suffixes.
Diagnostic suffixes:
Diagnostic suffixes describe diagnoses; they describe disease conditions or their symptoms. Some examples of diagnostic
suffix are:
No. Suffix Meaning
1
-algia Pain
2
-emia Blood condition
3
-ia
Examples
Arthralgia,
myalgia,
neuralgia
1..Leukemia,
2..septicemia,
3..ischemia,
4...uremia.
Condition/disease Pneumonia
Meaning
The conditions describing the pain in joints, muscles and nerves
respectively.
1...cancer of blood in which there is increase production of WBCs.
2... infection in the blood specially cause by bacteria or toxin.
3... decrease in blood supply (to any area).
4...is a condition in which there is increase in the level of urea occurs in
blood.
Is a lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, in which
4
-itis
Inflammation
5
-ic
Pertaining to
Meningitis,
hepatitis,
Esophagitis.
1... thoracic, 2... cardiac
the air sacs fill with pus and may become solid. Inflammation may
affect both lungs.
Diseases in which inflammation of meninges of brain, liver, and
esophagus occur respectively.
Pertaining to thorax/chest, 2... Pertaining to heart.
Procedural suffixes:
Procedural suffixes used in patient care. Some examples of procedural suffixes are:
No. Suffix
1
centesis
Meaning
Surgical puncture to
remove fluid
Examples
Thoracentesis
Amniocentesis
Arthrocentesis
Meaning
These are the processes in which we remove the fluid surgically
from the chest cavity, amniotic fluid, and from the joints
respectively.
2
-ectomy
removal
Tonsillectomy
Salpingectomy
Cholecystectomy
Removal of tonsils.
Removal of fallopian tubes.
Removal of gall bladder.
3
-graphy
Process of recording
Electroencephalography Process of recording of electrical activity of brain.
Electrocardiography
Process of recording of electrical activity of heart.
4
-plasty
Surgical repair or
surgical correction
Rhinoplasty
Angioplasty
Surgical repair or surgical correction of nose.
Surgical repair or surgical correction of vessels.
5
-stomy
opening
Colostomy
Tracheostomy
Surgical opening of colon.
Surgical opening of trachea.
It is important to know the difference between the diagnostic suffix and the procedural suffix because in medical profession the
exact knowledge of suffix can clear the concept otherwise one can’t properly understand the meaning of a medical term e.g. only
one root word chole- can take different forms by adding different suffixes to it i.e., Cholecystectomy, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, etc.
in these 3 words we should properly understand that cholelithiasis, cholecystitis are diseased conditions of the gallbladder but
cholecystectomy is a procedure of removal of gallbladder due to any disease/condition. It is also important to know because doctor
can write management plan of a patient on his/her file and if in history section a doctor on duty wrote cholecystectomy instead of
cholelithiasis in the patient who is presented with cholelithiasis and now he is admitted for cholecystectomy, it makes a big
confusion for senior/other doctors. So not only in medical practice but also in medical studies it is very important to clear the
concepts about diagnostic and procedural suffixes because these will make a proper medical term. This difference can affect a
medical term e.g. with one root word we can make many medical terms and if we don’t properly know the meaning of these suffix
this can make a confusion as describe in above example.
Q #02: choose 3 examples of diagnostic suffixes. Differentiate among the 3 examples by providing their meanings and stating how
they differ from one another then name 5 medical terms that use this specific word part.
Answer:
The examples of diagnostic suffixes are:
1. –oma
2. –megaly
3. –pathy
No. Suffixes Meanings
1
-oma
Tumor/mass
2
-megaly Enlargement
3
-pathy
Disease
The meanings of all 3 examples are different. Only one root word can change according to these suffixes.
1… -oma

Hepatoma.

Angioma.

Blastoma.

Epithelioma.

Hemangioma.
2… -megaly

Hepatomegaly.

Cardiomegaly.

Splenomegaly.

Acromegaly.

Cytomegaly.
3… -pathy

Nephropathy.

Neuropathy.

Myopathy.

Encephalopathy.

Myelopathy.
Q #03: Specify which type of suffix is the word part “-therapy”? Differentiate between radiotherapy and radiology.
Answer:
“-therapy” is a procedural suffix that means “treatment”. Some of its examples are:



Chemotherapy.
Cryotherapy.
Hydrotherapy.
Radiotherapy
Radiology
Radiotherapy is the treatment of disease, especially
cancer, using X-rays or similar forms of radiation.
Radiology is the science dealing with X-rays and other high-energy radiation,
especially the use of such radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of
It is the part of study of radiology.
It is a therapeutic procedure mostly for
malignancies.
disease.
It is a separate field/subject/science that is use for diagnostic purposes as
well as for therapeutic purposes.
It gives the knowledge about its application in different fields of life.
Reference:




Chabner, D. E. (2012). Medical terminology: A short course (6th Edition). St. Louis: Saunders Elsevier.
Medical terminology. A programmed learning approach to the language of health care (2 nd edition). Marjorie Canfield Willis.
http://www.slideshare.net/jdtomines/medical-term-2
http://quizlet.com/1057828/medical-terminology-suffixes-3-diagnostic-suffixes-flash-cards/
Thank you 