Pre-clinical Study

Adenopathy

Swelling of lymph nodes; usually indicative of distal infection

Body habitus

The state of a patients body, usually referring to obesity

Fundus

The bottom or base of an organ, often referring to the uterus or the eye

Hyponatermia

Polydispia

Excessive or persistent thirst, may indicate diabetes

Paroxysmal

Occasional, transient, sporadic

Cachetic

Extremely skinny, bony, malnourished

Non-toxic

Appearing stable and not at risk of deterioration

Somnolent

Excessive sleepiness, drowsy

Aniscoria

Unusual diameter of the pupils

Babinski sign

Toes flex upward when the sole of the foot is stimulated, indicating motor nerve damage

Dysarthria

Poor mechanical articulation of speech due to abnormal lip, tongue, or cheek functioning

Fundoscopic Exam

Inside of the eye seen with an ophthalmoscope looking for increased cranial pressure

Moves all extremities (MAEs x4)

The patient moves their arms and legs normally, indicating normal motor function

Normal DTRs

Normal deep tendon reflexes, rated as 2/4

Papilledema

Swelling of the optic nerve sheath, as noted with fundoscopic examination

Paresthesia

Abnormal tactile sensation often described as tingling, numbness, or pinpricking

Post-ictal

The state of somnolence and decreased responsiveness after a seizure

Pronator drift

Involuntary turning or lowering of forearm when outstretched

Romberg's sign

Falling to one side when standing with feet together and eyes closed, indicating abnormal cerebellar function or inner ear dysfunction

Saturday Night Palsy

A permanent localized numbness or weakness to a specific nerve’s distal innervation

Status epileptcus

Repetitive seizures without regaining consciousness between them

AT/NC

Atraumatic, Normocephalic. Normal external head inspection

Battles sign

Bruising behind the ears, indicative of a basilar skull fracture

Cephalgia

Headache

Facial angioedema

Swelling of the face often secondary to an allergic reaction

Fontanel

Newborn ‘soft spot’

Raccoon eyes

Brusing around the eyes, indicative of a basilar skull fracture

Pressured speech

Abnormal rate of speech, speaking quickly and urgently

Conjunctival exudate

Pus in the eyes

Diploplia

Double vision

Flouresceine uptake

Demonstrates the presence of a corneal abrasion

Fluorescein

Orange/yellow eyedrops used to detect corneal lesions, abrasions, or foreign bodies

Fundus of the eye

interior surface of the eye

Hyphema

Blood in anterior chamber of the eye, as seen during the fundoscopic exam

Subconjunctival hemorrhage

Blood in the white part of the eye

Stye/hordeolum

Small infected bump on the eyelid, usually in between the eyelash hairs

Sunken eyes

Sign of dehydration

Auricle

External portion of the ear

Labyrinthitis

Infection of the deep inner ear, known as the labyrinth. Often causes vertigo

Loss of TM landmarks

The TM is opaque, no longer transparent

TM bulging

“Outpouching” of the TM, indicative of inflammation

TM dullness

Absence of light reflection, indicative of ear infection

Septal hematoma

Bruise/swelling of septum (sign of a nose fracture)

Tonsillar exudate

Pus on the tonsils, indicative of infection

Trismus

Inability to fully open mouth due to an underlying dental or jaw abscess

Secretion pooling

Poor ability to handle secretions (saliva): drooling at the mouth and gagging

Peritonsillar abscess

Collection of pus or fluid around the tonsil

Dentition

Teeth

Edentulous

Without teeth

Lingual

Referring to the tongue

Malocclusion

Imperfect closure or meeting of opposing teeth, indicative of trauma or jaw fracture

Odynophagia

Painful swallowing

Meningismus

Brudzinski

Hips and knees flex in response to the neck being flexed; sign of meningitis

Kernigs

Stiff hamstrings/inability to straighten the leg when hip is flexed; sign of meningitis

Paraspinal tenderness

Tenderness of the muscles next to the vertebrae

Trachea midline

No deviation of trachea (deviates to unaffected side in pnuemothorax)

Aortic dissection

Arterial wall splits apart and threatens the patient’s life due to risk of hemorrhage

Cardiomyopathy

Disease of the heart muscle

Extra systoles

Extra beats of the heart heard during auscultation

Friction rub

Described as grating, scratching sound of the heart indicative of pericarditis

Pulse exam

Carotid, brachial, radial, femoral, popliteal, dorsal pedis (DP) or posterior tibiam (PT)

Atelectasis

Collapse of the alveoli in the lungs due to disease or poor inspiration

Tricuspid valve

Heart valve between RA and RV

SA node

Sinoatrial node: pacemaker of the heart

Hemangioma

Tumor consisting of blood vessels

Thrombus

Blood clot or blockage

Bronchiolitis

Inflammation/Infection of the bronchioles (smaller divisions of the bronchi)

Dullness on percussion

Fluid or mass under area being percussed

Hemothorax

Blood fluid present in the pleural cavity

Prolonged expirations

Usually heard in asthmatics

Retractions

Visible indentations of the soft tissue surrounding the chest wall (respiratory distress)

Splinting

Avoiding deep inspirations due to increased pain with breathing

Dunphy's sign

Increased pain with coughing

Hematochezia

Bright red blood in the stool

Ileus

Lack of muscular contraction in the intestine leading to disruption of bowel passage

Obturator sign

RLQ on internal rotation of right thigh indicative of appendicitis

Psoas sign

RLQ pain with extension of right thigh indicative of appendicitis

Pulsatile mass

Strong pulse of midline abdomen, possible aortic aneurysm

Rovsing's sign

Pain in RLQ with palpation of LLQ indicative of appendicitis

Scaphoid

Concave, sunken

Adnexa

appendages; in gynecology the ovaries and Fallopian tubes

Blood at the meatus

Blood at the urethral opening of a male; sign of trauma or hematuria

CMT

Cervical Motion Tenderness; elicited by moving the cervix often indicative of PID

Dysmenorrhea

Painful menstruation

Dyspareunia

Painful intercourse

Epididymitis

Inflammation of the epididymis

Hydronephrosis

Swelling of the kidney due to acute blockage of the ureter

PID

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease; inflammation of a woman’s reproductive organs

POC

Products of Conception; tissue of an aborted fetus

Avulsion fracture

Fragment of bone chipped away from the main bone

Boxer’s fracture

5 th metacarpal fracture

Comminuted fracture

Splintered and crushed bone broken into multiple fragments

Compartment syndrome

Compression of the nerves and blood vessel

Greenstick fracture

Bone partially breaks and bends

Impacted fracture

Broken bone smashed into another bone

Intratrochanteric fracture

Fracture at the proximal end of the femur

Olecranon

Elbow

Radiculopathy

Compressed nerve in spine