Medical Tests and Treatments Glossary
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Adenoidectomy (ad-eh-noy-DEK-teh-me): The adenoids (say: AD-eh-noyds) are a patch of tissue in the back of the throat behind the nose. Their job is to help keep you healthy by trapping harmful bacteria and viruses that you breathe in or swallow. But sometimes adenoids can cause problems and need to be removed.
Amputate (AM-pyoo-tate): To amputate something is to remove it by cutting. An operation where a doctor has to cut off a body part because of a severe injury or infection is called an amputation. Some body parts that might get amputated include a finger, foot, or leg.
Anesthesia (ah-nus-THEE-zhuh): Anesthesia is medicine that doctors and nurses give to make people feel comfortable when they're having surgery, stitches, or other things that might be painful. There are different types of anesthesia: general and local. General anesthesia helps you fall asleep for a little bit so you don't feel any pain while the doctors are fixing something. A doctor can give you general anesthesia with a shot or by letting you breathe a special kind of air. The medicine wears off and you wake up a while later. Local anesthesia doesn't make you fall asleep, but it numbs the area so you won't feel pain while you get stitches or minor surgery to remove something like a wart.
Antibiotics (an-ty-by-AH-tiks): These awesome medicines attack bacteria that make you sick. (They work only against bacteria, though, so they aren't used for illnesses caused by a virus, like a cold.) Want to hear something weird? Some antibiotics are made from fuzzy mold! For example, penicillin comes from orange mold. So if you have strep throat or some other infection caused by bacteria, don't worry, because antibiotics can help you feel better!
Antihistamines (an-tee-HISS-teh-meenz): Antihistamines are medicines that block allergy symptoms. They can make you stop sneezing, and stop your nose from running when your allergies act up. They also can help when you are itchy or have hives.
Astringents (eh-STRIN-jents): If your skin is oilier than normal, you might want to use an astringent. Astringents clean up skin by decreasing the amount of oil that can cause pimples. Just wipe some on your skin and say bye-bye to oil!
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Biopsy (BY-op-see): Sometimes, when doctors aren't sure what's wrong with a part of the body, they might do a test called a biopsy. This means they remove a tiny piece and look at it under a microscope. Skin biopsies are common, but doctors also can do a biopsy on things like a muscle, lung, or kidney. Biopsies give doctors a closer look at what's going on inside, which helps them make a diagnosis and find the right treatment. A doctor will give the person medicine called anesthesia to keep them comfortable while the biopsy is done.
Blood Types: Every person has a blood type. There are four major types, each with a different chemical marker that's attached to the red blood cells. These markers determine if someone has type A blood, type B blood, type O blood, or type AB blood. Each blood type can also be positive (+) or negative (-), just to make things a little more complicated! It's important that doctors know which blood type you have if you're going to have surgery, just in case you need some extra blood. But in an emergency, anyone can safely receive O negative blood, regardless of their blood type.
Bolus (BO-lus): You know that medicine needs to be taken in the right amount, or dose. For someone with diabetes, a bolus is a single, large dose of insulin that's taken to handle a rise in blood glucose (a type of sugar). A bolus is given as a shot or through an insulin pump.
Bronchodilator (brong-ko-DY-lay-ter): A person with asthma may need to take a medicine called a bronchodilator. This type of medicine dilates (a fancy word for opens) the airways, or bronchial tubes. This usually means using an inhaler, which is a plastic tube that holds a container of medicine. You may have seen a friend or someone in school using an inhaler, which is held up to the mouth and breathed into the lungs.
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Cast: If you ever break a bone, you'll probably need a cast to hold the pieces of bone steady while they're healing. Casts wrap around the broken area and can be made out of plaster, fiberglass, or even plastic and air (called an air cast). If you get a cast, keep it away from water the entire time it's on. Even though a cast may look and feel a little clumsy, it lets your broken bone grow back together again, and that's pretty important! After you're better, the doctor will take the cast off, which doesn't hurt at all.
Chemotherapy (kee-mo-THER-uh-pee): Chemotherapy (or chemo for short) is the use of special medicines to treat cancer. They can be given alone, but doctors often use several chemotherapy drugs together to attack the cancer cells in different ways. The exact combination depends on the type of cancer and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. These very powerful medicines sometimes affect normal cells too. That's why many people being treated for cancer lose their hair. The good news is that when a person finishes chemo, the normal cells come back and so does their hair!
Complete Blood Count (CBC): Blood is made up of different parts, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Red blood cells carry oxygen all through your body. White blood cells defend it against germs that try to make you sick. And platelets stick together to form a plug to stop bleeding if you get a cut. Doctors sometimes order blood tests to check a small blood sample. One type of blood test is called a complete blood count (CBC) because it helps doctors see how many red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are in someone's blood.
CT Scan or CAT Scan: CT scans have nothing to do with cats, except that when people talk about them, they usually say "cat scan" instead of "CT scan." CT stands for computed tomography, so you can see why people say "CT." CT scans are a kind of X-ray that gives doctors a much better picture of what's going on inside the body. Regular X-rays show bones and some other parts of the body. But CT scans show much more detail. Like X-rays, CT scans don't hurt. When someone is sick or injured, doctors use them to help figure out what might be wrong.
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Decongestants (dee-kun-JES-tents): Decongestants are medicines that keep your nose from being stuffy. When you have a cold, your nose gets a little swollen inside and can fill up with mucus (snot). Decongestants stop your nose from becoming swollen so it doesn't feel as plugged up.
Diagnosis (dy-ig-NO-siss): The word diagnosis is a fancy name for how doctors figure out what's making a person sick. They collect all kinds of information by doing exams, asking questions, and ordering tests, like blood tests or X-rays. After you are diagnosed with something, doctors can treat you with medicine and other things to help you get better!
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Electroencephalogram (ih-lek-tro-en-SEF-uh-lo-gram) or EEG: Doctors use electroencephalograms to figure out what's going on in your brain. A special machine measures your brain waves to create an EEG. No matter what you're doing (even sleeping), your brain gives off electric waves. An electroencephalogram machine measures these electric waves and shows where and how big they are. Some kids have a lot of extra electricity flowing inside their brain, which can cause things called seizures. An EEG does not hurt and it can help doctors decide how to treat someone.
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Glucagon (GLOO-kuh-gon): Glucagon is a hormone that raises blood sugar (glucose). It is made in the pancreas. When blood sugars are low, glucagon tells the liver to send sugar into the blood, which goes to the cells for energy. When someone with diabetes has a very low blood sugar level, a dose of glucagon can help raise the blood glucose quickly.
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Heart transplant: A heart transplant is a surgery where doctors remove a person's sick heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart. Doctors decide to do a heart transplant when a heart condition can't be improved with medicines or surgery.
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Ibuprofen (eye-byoo-PRO-fen): If you've ever had the flu, you might remember that awful achy feeling. Ibuprofen can come to the rescue when you feel that way. It's a kind of pain reliever that helps ease aches and pains. After you take ibuprofen, it keeps the nerves in your body from sending messages that say "Ow! I ache!" to your brain, so you won't hurt as much. But remember not to take any kind of medicine without your parent's help.
Immunizations (ih-myoo-nuh-ZAY-shunz): This is the long word for what most kids know as vaccines (or sometimes "shots"). It might not be fun to get immunizations at the doctor's office, but they're very important because they help protect you against diseases.
Injection (in-JEK-shun): An injection is another word for a shot. Getting shots might not be fun, but they are an important way to keep you healthy. A shot is when the doctor uses a needle to put medicine or a vaccine into your body. Kids who have diabetes may have to give themselves injections of a medicine called insulin.
Insulin Injections (IN-suh-lin in-JEK-shuns): Insulin is an important hormone that keeps your body working. If the body doesn't make enough of this substance, a person might need to get insulin injections, or shots. There are many types of injectable insulin, both short- and long-acting. Most people with diabetes take insulin injections based on their blood glucose levels, according to a plan that they've worked out with their doctor.
IV Line: IV is short for intravenous (say: in-truh-VEE-nus). Did you know you can get nourishment, fluids, and medicine through your veins? In some cases, an IV line (a soft, flexible tube placed inside a vein) can be the best way to deliver the fluid or medicine that a person needs. IV lines might be used if a person is having surgery, is very sick, or can't eat and drink normally. Whatever the reason, it can help the person get better again.
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Laparoscopy (la-puh-ROS-kuh-pee): Laparoscopy sounds a little scary at first, but it's actually pretty cool. It's a special kind of surgery that uses a camera to look inside the body! What happens during laparoscopy? First, doctors make a tiny cut on the patient's belly (the patient is under anesthesia so they don't feel the surgery). Then they place a really thin tube inside with a teeny camera attached to it. They use the camera to look for what's making the person sick, and when they find it, they fix it. Using this kind of surgery, doctors can fix things more easily, a person can heal faster, and there's only a tiny cut that will heal in no time.
Laxatives (LAK-suh-tivs): Laxatives are medicines that help you out when your bowels aren't moving. This is called constipation (say: kon-stuh-PAY-shun). Constipation can be bad for your body, so a doctor may tell you to take a laxative to move things along.
Long-Term Control Medicines (also called Controller or Maintenance Medicines): Many kids with asthma need to take medicine every day to control their asthma. There's a good reason why should they take medicine even when they're feeling fine: Long-term control medicines work by keeping the airways in the lungs open and clear, which makes it easier to breathe. These medicines work slow, not fast. It may take days or weeks for them to do their job. That's why a person with asthma needs to take them regularly. That gives these medicines a chance to get working, so they can keep airways from getting swollen and narrow.
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MRI: Are you ready for what MRI stands for? It's magnetic resonance imaging (say: mag-NET-ik REZ-uh-nents IM-uh-jing). That's a mouthful, but MRI machines do a simple and important thing — they take detailed pictures of the inside of the body that help doctors learn exactly what's wrong when someone is having a problem. Are you having an MRI? It won't hurt, but you do have to hold still!
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Occupational Therapy (AH-kyoo-pay-shu-nal THAIR-ah-pee): Do you know what your occupation is? As a kid, your job is to play, learn, and grow up to take care of yourself. It's hard for some kids to do everyday things like write, eat, or get dressed. But occupational therapy can help. Occupational therapists come up with creative ways to help kids who have physical disabilities or other challenges. If a kid has trouble eating, the therapist can provide special forks and spoons that are longer, shorter, or have easy-to-hold rubber grips. If a kid needs help with writing, the therapy might be strengthening the pointer finger by finger painting or squirting a water gun. With OT, there are many ways to get the job done!
Operation (ah-puh-RAY-shun): You've probably played the game Operation, but what happens when someone you care about is getting a real operation? An operation is also called surgery, and it's when doctors fix something inside the body to make the person feel better. The doctor may take out an infected appendix, close a hole in the heart, or even put in a new kidney! The good part about surgery is that it usually means the person is on the road to feeling better.
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Prosthesis (pros-THEE-sus): A prosthesis is a manmade body part. If someone loses an arm or a leg, or is born without an arm or leg or another part of the body, they might get a prosthesis to replace what's missing. Other kinds of prostheses include artificial heart valves and dentures.
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Rescue Medicines (also called Fast-Acting or Quick-Relief Medicines): Quick-relief medicines are a type of asthma medicine that works quickly. They "rescue" the person from wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Most of these medicines are inhaled and work by relaxing the muscle around the airways. When the muscles are relaxed, the airways are wider, which makes it easier to move air in and out of the lungs. But quick-relief medicines won't prevent future asthma flare-ups and may not be enough to keep someone's asthma under control. Long-term control medicine, taken daily, is often needed to keep the airways from getting swollen and narrow in the first place.
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Skin Test: If you might have allergies, a special doctor called an allergist (say: AL-ur-jist) can help find out what you're allergic to by giving you a skin test. For this test, the doctor will use different liquids, each containing a small amount of stuff that a person can be allergic to, such as pollen or certain foods. The doctor puts a drop of each liquid on your arm or back and then lightly pricks the skin. If you get a red, itchy bump there, you're probably allergic!
Spinal Tap (SPY-nul tap): A spinal tap is an important test for diagnosing illnesses, such as meningitis. It's a way of taking a sample of the fluid around the spinal cord. To get the sample, the doctor inserts a very thin needle between two vertebrae (back bones) in the lower back. But before putting in the needle, the doctor numbs the skin by giving the person local anesthesia (a numbing shot). After the fluid is collected, the doctor removes the needle and applies a bandage. Then the fluid sample goes to the lab to be checked under a microscope to learn more about why the person feels sick. Knowing the cause of a sickness is the first step to treating it so the person can get better.
Stat: Quick! Hurry up! Right now! When you hear the word "stat" in a hospital, it means all these things. It's from the Latin word statim, which means at once or right away.
Strep Screen: If you've ever gone to the doctor with a really sore throat, you may have had a test called a strep screen. First, the doctor touches the back of your throat with a cotton swab. Next, the swab is tested for the germ that causes strep throat. This quick test lets your doctor tell you in minutes if you have strep throat. If you do, the doctor will give you a prescription for an antibiotic, which will help you get better.
Surgery (SER-juh-ree): Surgery, also called an operation, is when doctors fix something inside the body to make the person feel better. The doctor may take out an infected appendix, close a hole in the heart, or even put in a new kidney! Whatever the surgery, after an operation, a person should start feeling better in no time.
Suture (SOO-chur): This is the string that doctors use to sew things together. Stitches hold the edges of your skin together so a cut can heal properly. When you have stitches in your skin, usually you have to go back to the doctor to get them removed. When you have surgery, the doctor may use a different kind of suture, which dissolves on its own.
Syringe (suh-RINJ): A syringe is the tube with a plunger that usually connects to a needle. It is used to inject or take out fluid. A syringe holds the vaccine or medicine when you get a shot.
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Ultrasound (UL-truh-sound): Ultrasound, or ultrasonography, is one way doctors can take a look inside the body. Unlike with X-rays, sound waves are bounced off the kidneys, the heart, or other places a doctor needs to check out. Most women who are going to have a baby will have an ultrasound. Ask your mother if she has an ultrasound picture of you before you were born. Aw, you were so cute!
Urinalysis (yoor-uh-NAL-uh-sis): Ever peed in a cup? Then you've probably had a urinalysis, or a pee test. A urinalysis helps doctors learn more about what's going on inside the body. Sometimes pee has stuff in it that shouldn't be there, like sugar, which may mean that a kid has diabetes. If a kid has a bladder infection, a doctor might find bacteria or white blood cells in their pee. A doctor can spot these and many other problems by doing a urinalysis.
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Vaccines (vak-SEENS): A vaccine is another word for what most kids call a shot. The doctor uses a needle to put the vaccine into your body. Getting shots might not be fun, but vaccines are an important way to keep you healthy.
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X-ray: X-rays are special pictures of the inside of your body. A doctor will decide when you need an X-ray and what body part needs to be X-rayed. An X-ray machine, not a camera, takes these pictures. When the picture comes out, doctors can see broken bones, lung infections, and more. Superman may have X-ray vision, but your doctor has an X-ray machine!