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This article, "Cicero Teaches Dictation: Lessons From Ancient Rome", is intended for physicians, residents, interns, medical students, nurses, and physician assistants.

Soundalikes and Ambiguities

Do you mean ...	Or do you mean ...
adduction - movement of a body part toward the median plane	abduction - movement of a body part away from the median plane
AV - arteriovenous	AV - atrioventricular (sometimes difficult to tell from context)
ascitic - containing ascites, serous fluid in the abdominal cavity	ascetic - one who believes in minimal comforts; acidic - containing acid
Avacor - OTC hair restorer	Advicor - niacin/lovastatin
Avelox - moxifloxacin HCl, quinolone antibiotic	Aveloz - unproven cancer drug
cardia - portion of stomach	Cartia - diltiazem (U.S.), aspirin (Australia)
carotid - artery	parotid - gland
cecal - of the cecum	thecal, fecal
Ceftin	Cefotan or other "cef" drugs
Celebrex - NSAID	Cerebyx - anticonvulsant
cirrhosis - replacement of normal tissue with fibrotic tissue	xerosis - dry skin. Also see sclerosis/sclerosus, below.
CNS - central nervous system	C&S - culture and sensitivity
CVA - cerebrovascular accident	CVA - costovertebral angle
cystotome - used in cutting the urinary bladder, gallbladder, or lens	cystitome - some people prefer this spelling for cases involving the eye
Desyrel - antidepressant	Desferal - for iron toxicity
disk, disc - some people prefer "disk" for the spine, "disc" for the eye ...	disk, disc - a matter of personal preference
Ditropan - GU smooth muscle relaxant	Diprivan - propofol
dysphagia - inability to eat	dysphasia - inability to speak
enterocleisis - occlusion of the lumen of the alimentary canal	enteroclysis - high enema
enterostomy - abdominal wall fistula	antrostomy - formation of permanent opening into a bony cavity
Estrace - hormone replacement therapy	esterase - class of enzyme
Feldene - NSAID	Seldane - now discontinued
H&P - history and physical	HNP - herniated nucleus pulposus
hyper- too much	hypo- too little
I&D - incision and drainage	I&D - irrigation and debridement
ilium - iliac bone in the hip	ileum - third portion of the small intestine
in-stent - within a stent	instant - immediate
Lexxel - antihypertensive	Leksell - rongeur
mets - metastases	Metzenbaum scissors; metabolic equivalents
Murelax - tranquilizer	MiraLax - laxative
Nitrostat - nitroglycerin	nystatin - antifungal
OrthoTec - pedicle screw	Arthrotec - non-narcotic analgesic
osteal - pertaining to bone	ostial - pertaining to an opening
pacemaker codes	Lots of soundalikes here. DDIR can sound like DVIR. For the meanings behind the codes, see the pacemaker code page.
para - near; involvement of two like parts or a pair; a departure from the norm	peri - near (the only meaning)
perfusion - to force blood or other fluid through tissue	profusion - a great amount
perineal - pertaining to the perineum	peritoneal - peritoneal (abdomen); peroneal (leg)
Protonix - for GI bleeding	Protonics - orthopedic instruments
sclerosis - hardening	sclerosus - i.e., lichen sclerosus. Also see cirrhosis/xerosis, above.
sitotoxin - foodborne pathogen	cytotoxin - inhibits cells from growing
subcu - subcutaneous	subcuticular
tinea - fungal infection	tenia - bandlike structure
TURP - transurethral resection of prostate	TERP - totally endoscopic radical prostatectomy. I sincerely hope this abbreviation doesn't catch on.
ureteral - pertaining to the ureters	urethral - pertaining to the urethra
Valium - tranquilizer	thallium - used in cardiac stress testing
Xanax - tranquilizer	Zantac - ranitidine, for gastric ulcers

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About the author: Elizabeth Dearborn is a medical transcriptionist and webmaster.
Image of Marcus Tullius Cicero courtesy of the Vroma Archive.
This article was posted on June 27, 2002. This page was slightly revised on January 11, 2005 and March 5, 2005.