Gastrointestinal Terms
It is crucial to possess good knowledge of medical terms because of their universal use and importance in enhancing communication among medics. The broader their vocabulary, the more competent the medical professionals become to their colleagues and patients (Watermeyer et al., 2021). To understand the terminologies, the words must be broken down into their separate parts of root words, suffixes, and prefixes and understand the components.
Prefix appears at the commencement of a word, and it generally describes intensity and location; for instance, -Gastro, meaning stomach. Suffixes appear at the end of the words to alter the initial meaning (Gylys & Wedding, 2017). Suffixes mainly show a condition, procedure, or disease. For instance, when the suffix –itis, meaning inflammation, is coupled with the prefix arthro-, which means joint, the resulting term becomes arthritis, meaning inflammation of the joints. A root word is the central part of a word, and it delivers the essential meaning of the word and mainly designates parts of the body.
Gastrointestinal is a collective term used to refer to the stomach, large intestine, and small intestine, commonly abbreviated as GI. Diseases that affect the GIT are known as gastrointestinal diseases, for instance, colorectal (Merritt et al., 2017). The etiology of gastroesophageal reflux diseases (GERD) comprising non-erosive reflux disorder, reflux esophagitis is caused by numerous factors. GERD refers to the presence of acid-reflux-linked symptoms resulting from abdominal reflux of the contents of the stomach to the esophagus.
Scenario
The Helicobacter pylori diagnosed patient complained of severe abdominal pains and was diagnosed to have mild pancreatitis. Three days before his admission, the patient complained of abdominal pain (AP), which was mainly noticed in the epigastric region, and it was throbbing in nature. It worsened on the admission day, and it later radiated to the back. It was accompanied by odynophagia, mild fever, rigor, and no cold, and he also complained of nausea and serious vomiting (Sugimoto et al., 2020). The patient exhibited anorexia and six episodes of non-projectile vomiting. The pain was continuous during the day and worsened at night, and it intensified when the patient ate and even lay flat on the ground and calmed down by bending forward. After a gastrostomy was conducted, it was realized that the patient had ulceration on the gastrointestinal walls.
References
Gylys, B. A., & Wedding, M. E. (2017). Medical terminology systems: A body systems approach. FA Davis.
Merritt, R. J., Cohran, V., Raphael, B. P., Sentongo, T., Volpert, D., Warner, B. W., & Goday, P. S. (2017). Intestinal rehabilitation programs in the management of pediatric intestinal failure and short bowel syndrome. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, 65(5), 588-596.
Sugimoto, M., Murata, M., Mizuno, H., Iwata, E., Nagata, N., Itoi, T., & Kawai, T. (2020). Endoscopic reflux esophagitis and reflux-related symptoms after Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(9), 3007.
Watermeyer, J., Thwala, Z., & Beukes, J. (2021). Medical terminology in intercultural health interactions. Health communication, 36(9), 1115-1124.