welcome back to the channel where medical topics are made easy in this video we're going to focus on common medical suffixes and before we get started make sure to turn on the captions and read along you might remember from the videos on prefixes and roots that most medical words have a beginning middle and end they refer to as the prefix root and suffix the prefix is typically the descriptive part of the word and it describes characteristics like a color amount size location or position the root is the subject of the term and it often pertains to a body part or system finally the suffix brings meaning to the word and it might describe a procedure test diagnosis condition or process some medical words don't have a prefix and if that's the case then the root's going to form the beginning of the word and some medical words might have more than one root combined together we already went over common medical abbreviations prefixes and roots in previous videos and they're going to be linked down below in the description now we're going to focus on common medical suffixes and their meanings we're also going to go through a number of examples which should be helpful because many of the examples contain the prefixes and roots that we already learned about you might surprise yourself with how much you know by breaking down the word and this helps to simplify medical terminology so make sure to watch the entire video and stay tuned until the end let's begin with common suffixes that have to do with procedures hit pause in the video quick and see how many you can name before looking at the answers first we have ostomy which means to surgically create an artificial opening or stoma an example medical term is colostomy which is a surgery that creates a new opening for the colon to pass through the abdominal wall we know from the root video that colo means colon and now we know ostomy means creating a new opening so it makes sense that colostomy is creating a new opening for the colon you're going to see many of the suffixes in the table start with the letter o this is the combining vowel and it's what combines the root to the suffix just know that there might be a different vowel other than o that combines the two word elements together next is atomy which means to make an incision or cut into an example is laparotomy we learned in the root video that lapero means abdomen or abdominal wall so now we know laparotomy is a surgical incision into the abdominal cavity be careful with ostomy and otomy because they sound similar the next suffix is ectomy which means the surgical removal or excision of for example a nephrectomy is the surgical removal of a kidney or part of a kidney and this makes sense because we learned in the root video that nephro means kidney next is oscar which relates to the examination or viewing of especially with the scope which is an instrument used for viewing or observing examples include cystoscopy colonoscopy or arthroscopy you can figure out the body part being viewed by breaking down the root word most of which we learned in the previous videos cysto refers to the bladder so cystoscopy is the use of a scope to visualize the inside of the bladder colo refers to the colon so colonoscopy is the use of a scope to visualize the inside of the colon and arthro refers to joint so arthroscopy is the use of a scope to visualize the inside of a joint the next suffix is centesis which refers to puncture or aspiration of examples include pericardiocentesis thoracentesis or arthrocentesis again the root word will help you figure out what part of the body is being aspirated pericardio refers to the pericardium of the heart so pericardiocentesis means the removal of fluid buildup in the pericardium which is the sac around the heart thora refers to the chest or thorax so thoracentesis is the aspiration of fluid or air from the pleural space of the chest cavity which is the space between the lungs and chest wall finally we just said arthro means joint so arthrocentesis is the puncture of a joint especially for the aspiration of fluid from the joint space next is plasti which refers to a surgical procedure for the repair restoration or replacement of a part of the body again the root word will tell you the subject of the term for example rhinoplasty is a surgery that changes the shape of the nose and this makes sense because we learned in the root video that rhino means nose next we have otripsy which means crushing an example medical term is lithotripsy and we know from the root video that litho means stone so lithotripsy refers to a procedure to crush a stone such as a kidney stone the next suffix is diesis which means binding or fusing together for example pleurodesis is the procedure of fusing or adhering the layers of the pleura together remember the pleura is the thin membrane covering the lungs and lines the inside of the chest wall and this prevents the buildup of fluid or air in the pleural cavity next is scope which refers to the instrument used to view or observe a body part we alluded to this earlier when talking about the suffix oscape which was the procedure of using a scope to view or examine again the root word will describe the subject of the term and what is being viewed for example an otoscope is the instrument used to examine the ear or an ophthalmoscope is the instrument used to view and examine the eye this makes sense because we learned in the root video that odo means ear and ophthalmo means i finally we have opsi which means examination or inspection a common example is biopsy which is the removal of cells or tissues for examination usually by a pathologist or you can think of autopsy which is the examination of a body after death to determine a cause or to examine the extent of a disease let's move on to common suffixes pertaining to a test the three terms shown in the table look the same and have similar meaning so let's break them down first we have gram which means a record or a picture you could think of electrocardiogram also known as an ecg or ekg which is a recording of the electrical activity of the heart next we have graph which is the instrument used to record or take a picture for example an electrocardiograph is the instrument used to record the electrical activity of the heart in other words the electrocardiograph is the machine that produces the electrocardiogram finally we have graphi which means to record or to take a picture it's the actual act or process of recording or taking a picture for example electrocardiography means to record the electrical activity of the heart so to recap gram refers to the actual record or image graph refers to the machine that obtains the record or takes the picture and graphy refers to the actual process of obtaining that record or taking the picture let's continue with common suffixes that have to do with signs and symptoms first we have itis which means inflammation we've seen a few examples of itis in the past few videos but a common one is arthritis again we know arthro refers to joint so arthritis is inflammation of the joints next we have paresis which means weakness hemiparesis is weakness to one side of the body and this makes sense because we learned in the prefix video that hemi means one half and this is a good example of a medical term that uses a prefix followed by a suffix all of the examples through now have been a root followed by a suffix the next suffix is plesia which refers to paralysis for example quadriplegia means paralysis of all four limbs it's another prefix and suffix combination where quadra means four moving on to rhea this means discharge or flow an example is rhinorrhea which is a runny nose or nasal discharge which makes sense because we know rhino refers to nose another example is odoria which is discharge or liquid drainage from the ear again we know odo refers to ear next is edema which is swelling or the accumulation of fluid an example is blepharoedema and we know from the root video that blepharo refers to the eyelid so blepharoedema is swelling of the eyelid the next one is odynia which means pain or discomfort for example osteodynia is pain in a bone with osteomeaning bone as we learned before next we have spasm which refers to sudden muscle contraction you can think of vasospasm which is sudden constriction of a blood vessel which makes sense because phaso relates to a blood vessel moving on to ridge or rashia this means excessive flow or discharge you can think of hemorrhage which is the copious or heavy discharge of blood from a blood vessel and this makes sense because hemo means blood it can be easy to confuse this with rhea so be careful remember ria is discharge our flow while raji is excessive discharger flow finally we have algea which means pain an example is cephalia which is the medical term for headache we know from the root video that cephalo refers to head another example is neuralgia can you figure out the meaning of this we know neuro refers to nerve so neuralgia means nerve pain let's move on to a group of common descriptive suffixes first we have megalith which means irregular enlargement you can think of hepatomegaly we know from the root video that hepato means liver so hepatomegaly is the abnormal enlargement of the liver another example is cardiomegaly which is the abnormal enlargement of the heart next is ickle which means small microscopic little or minut an example is denticle which means small tooth or tooth like projection and this makes sense because we know dento refers to teeth the next suffix is constriction which pertains to narrowing or contracting you can think of vasoconstriction which is the narrowing of blood vessels the opposite of that is dilation which pertains to expanding widening or stretching if we use blood vessels as an example again vasodilation is the widening of blood vessels a similar suffix is urism which also means expand or widen a common example is aneurysm which is an abnormal bulge or ballooning in the wall of a blood vessel and this causes the blood vessel to expand or widen next we have genesis which means the development or production of something another meaning is to form you can think of neurogenesis which is the formation or development of neurons finally we have stasis which is the stoppage or slowdown of the flow of blood or bodily fluids we can use blood as an example again where hemostasis means the stoppage or cessation of bleeding or blood flow so hemorrhage referred to bleeding whereas hemostasis refers to the cessation of bleeding let's wrap it up with the group of general suffixes you're likely to see first acel which means hernia or swelling a simple example is gastroceal which is a hernia on part of the stomach we know from the root video that gastro refers to stomach so this makes sense next is genic which means caused by or produced by you can think of cardiogenic which means arising in the heart or caused by a heart condition another example is nephrogenic which means originating in the kidney in addition to genic there's also other suffixes that can mean pertaining to or related and they're shown on the screen moving on to ism this refers to a medical condition disease or process for example hyperthyroidism is the condition in which the thyroid gland is overactive there are also a group of other suffixes that mean condition disease or process and they're shown on the screen as well next we have ologist which refers to a specialist or person who studies or has knowledge of a particular area of study you can think of a pulmonologist who is a specialist in the anatomy and pathophysiology of the lungs next is ology which is the study of in the last example the pulmonologist was the actual person whereas pulmonology is the study of the lungs the next suffix is oma which refers to a tumor or growth you can think of melanoma which is a tumor of the melanin forming cells the next two examples were on the list of conditions and diseases we have pathy which refers to a disease such as cardiomyopathy and we have osis which refers to a condition such as tuberculosis moving on to penia this means deficiency an example is pan cytopenia which is a deficiency of all types of blood cells including white blood cells red blood cells and platelets next we have ipnea which refers to breathing or respiration we learned in the prefix video that tachy means fast or rapid so tachypnea has fast or rapid breathing finally we have emea which means blood or condition that relates to blood you can think of anemia which is a condition marked by a deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood hopefully this helped you better understand medical terminology and suffixes if you found the video useful please hit the like button and comment down below make sure to subscribe if you're not already this way you don't miss out on future videos that make medical topics easy and as always you can find all of the notes and tables for this video on the website linked down below in the description thanks for watching and hope you check out future videos