Everyday medical English

Poisoning
Accidental poisoning to which people may be exposed, as well as poisoning with suicidal intent, is very frequent.
When such case occurs, the best course for those who want to help is to have the patient transported to the hospital for examination and treatment. Nevertheless some general emergency measures should be known to the public since emergency room facilities may not be readily available. When corrosives such as strong alkalies or acids have been ingested the best initial treatment is direct towards neutralization, dilution, or inactivation.
When strong acids have been ingested, milk or magnesia, milk, egg, albumin, or flour in water can be used.
Alkaline carbonates are contraindicated because they release carbon dioxide when in contact with acids, which, on expansion, may add to the lesions of mucous membranes.
Four strong alkalies, a mixture of equal parts of vinegar and water or diluted citrus juice may be taken as a neutralizer.
Vomiting should never be induced whenever alkalies or acids have been ingested because it may cause esophageal rupture.
Irritant hydrocarbons such as kerosene, turpentine and gasoline frequently induce vomiting when ingested and the danger that these substances might be aspirated during vomiting is very great, since they are very irritating to the lungs. Therefore in these cases vomiting is likewise contraindicated. For practically all other ingested poisons, prompt emptying of the stomach is the principal emergency measure. It is done by induced vomiting or gastric lavage. Vomiting can be induced by inserting a finger in the back of the throat or by taking an emetic followed by several glasses of water or milk.

Vocabulary
Mucous membrane – sluznica
Lavage – ispiranje
Hydrocarbons – ugljeni hidrati
Corrosive – sredstvo koje nagriza, koroziv
Neutralization – neutralizacija
Dilution – razređivanje
Milk of magnesia – lek za suzbijanje želudačne kiseline
Egg albumen – belance od jajeta
Alkaline carbonates – alkalni karbonati (na primer: soda bikarbona ili natrijum karbonat)
Lesion – ozleda, povreda
Kerosene – petrolej za rasvetu
Turpentine – terpentin
Gasoline – benzin (za pogon motornih vozila)

SOURCE: From the book Emergency Room Care, by 26 authors, Edited by Charles Eckert, M.D., Little, Brown and Company (Inc.), Boston, 1967, 1971. / ENGLISH READER – MEDICINE, Sunita Bujas & Vesna Margan, Školska knjiga 2000.

The simple faint
Of all cardiovascular emergencies the most common one is the simple faint, and it is also the most spectacular. Under appropriate conditions no one is immune to this form of syncope.
Factors contributing to fainting are anxiety, fatigue, hunger, dehydration, blood loss, sedation, antihypertensive drugs, excessive heat, pain or prolonged standing – indeed virtually any noxious stimuli. It is a usual occurrence in any emergency room, since the patient and his friends and relatives are all potential fainters.
The mechanism of the faint is thought to be a massive vagal discharge with inappropriate peripheral vasodilatation. Typically the fainter becomes visibly anxious and uneasy; his skin pales and he breaks out into a clammy sweat; he may yawn; there are gastrointestinal rumblings and perhaps the passage of flatus.
Finally, abruptly, consciousness is lost. The appearance of the fainter is frighteningly deathlike. The pulse is strikingly slow and the blood pressure very low. There may be mild anoxic convulsive movement. Unless he is restrained from falling, the collapse is selfrestorative because it brings the heart and the brain to common level. Indeed every effort should be made to lower the fainter to the floor or to some flat surface. Maintenance of the upright position could conceivably result in anoxic brain damage. In recumbency, consciousness soon returns, but it is likely to be lost again if the fainter tries immediately to stand.

Vocabulary
Vagal discharge – pražnjenje vagusa
Vagus – vagus
Peripheral vasodilatation – širenje perifernih krvnih žila
Dehydration – dehidratacija, gubitak tečnosti
Antihypertensive drugs – lekovi za suzbijawe krvnog pritiska
Sedation – stanje smanjene funkcionalne aktivnosti
Noxious – štetan
Gastro-intestinal rumblings – krčenje u želucu I crevima
Yawn – zevati
Strikingly – napadno
Conceivably – razumljivo, eventualno
Recumbency – ležeći položaj

SOURCE: From the book Emergency Room Care, by 26 authors, Edited by Charles Eckert, M.D., Little, Brown and Company (Inc.), Boston, 1967, 1971. / ENGLISH READER – MEDICINE, Sunita Bujas & Vesna Margan, Školska knjiga 2000.

Nurses’ notes
If nurses’ notes are detailed and thorough, a high quality of medical and nursing care will be achieved since they will aid the physician as well as nursing personnel in the management of the patient.
It is insufficient to say “the patient had a good day” and it reveals an incomplete appraisal of the patient and his problem to say “the patient spent a restless night”. If the nurse is really interested and dedicated in helping the patient, she’ll write down all the observations pertinent to the patient’s condition.
The patient may have a single disease with secondary or minor additional problems or a number of disorders. The problem may be a symptom of unknown origin. The nurse’s first note in the chart should, therefore, attempt to define this by her personal assessment of the patient’s needs and condition. An example of a nurse’s initial note for a urologic patient is as follows: “Mr. Adams was admitted on 6 East at 5 a.m. via the emergency room per cart. He states he received medication for pain in the right lower back thought to be due to a kidney stone. His clean voided two glass specimens of urine have been sent to the laboratory for analysis and culture. The patient appears oriented and has been instructed as to laboratory tests, X ray exams, and procedure for straining urine. He states he is willing to cooperate. “
“9 p.m. Mr. Adams had a severe pain in the right genital region at 8 p.m. and subsequently voided a small white stone with relief of pain. The stone has been saved for Dr. Johnson. The patient seems quite relieved of his previous anxiety and is joking with ward personnel.”
These brief but fact-filled notes indicate a clear picture of the patient’s problem and subsequent course of action.

Vocabulary
Insufficient – nedovoljan
Nursing personnel – sestrinsko osoblje
Appraisal – procena
Pertinent – koji se odnosi
Disorder – poremećaj
Origin – poreklo
Assessment – provera, procena
Per cart – na kolicima
Void – prazniti
A clean voided specimen of urine – sterilno dobijen uzorak mokraće
Strain urine – filtrirati mokraću (kod sumnje na kamenje u bubregu)
Relief of pain – olakšanje bola

SOURCE: From the book Sawyer's Nursing Care of Patients with Urologic Diseases, by Chester C. Winter, M.D. F.A.C.S., Marylin M. Roehm R.N., B.S., The C.V. Mosby Company, Saint Louis, 1968. / ENGLISH READER – MEDICINE, Sunita Bujas & Vesna Margan, Školska knjiga 2000.

Measurement of visual acuity
Determination of visual acuity is often the responsibility of the office or clinic nurse. The ease and speed with which visual acuity may be measured tends to mislead lay persons into underestimating the value of this test. As a matter of fact, the most useful single test of ocular function is the evaluation of visual acuity.
Reduced acuity will reveal the presence of a great variety of eye diseases as well as the need for refractive correction.
Determination of visual should be a part of every complete physical examination and is obligatory when the patient complains of visual blurring or other ocular symptoms.
Distance acuity is measured with the aid of a chart, and the denominator is the distance at which a normal eye could read the line. Thus, 20/30 means that the patient is 20 feet from the chart and can read a line which a normal eye should see at 30 feet.
20/200 means that he can read only the largest letter at the top of the chart, ordinarily legible to a normal eye at 200 feet.
Lesser visual acuity than this may be recorded as hand movement (H.M.) or light perception (L.P.). An eye is not termed “blind” unless it cannot even perceive light.

Vocabulary
Measurement of visual acuity – merenje oštrine vida
Determination of visual acuity – određivanje oštrine vida
Evaluation of visual acuity – ocenjivanje oštrine vida
Refractive correction – zamućenje vida
Record – registrovati

SOURCE: From the book Nursing Care in Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders William H. Saunders, William H. Haveber, Carol J. Fair, Josephine T. Hickey, the C.V. Mosby Company, Saint Louis, 1968. / ENGLISH READER – MEDICINE, Sunita Bujas & Vesna Margan, Školska knjiga 2000.