surgical slang...

Started by sugababe81
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TheProwler said:
I prefer the Manzierre anyways.
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Here ya go (although it might fit Ronin's "Pacific Rim" pecs better):

3.jpg
 
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Anyway, back to topic.

Gravity rounds: rounds starting from the topmost floors to the lower levels (during medicine rotation, the attending usually likes to start with the MICU patients on the 3rd floor and we work our way up to our primaries on the 4th and finally the consults on the 5th and 6th floors. Occasionally, we'd get some very sick consults and he'd prefer to start with those first on the 6th floor as we work out way down).

S.I. - SICU
 
Apollyon said:
Do you plan to miss the first time?
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GuzzyRon said:
Well, maybe he needs back up just to make sure the job gets done right...lol.
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Hopefully I won't miss, but the kick may throw off my aim (used to having the arms extended when firing, not bent (under head, towards chest, etc.)) 😉

*clears throat has he tries to re-rail topic*

Now then,

Party: The hospital, in reference to a readmit. "Didn't you just leave this party?" From a line in Star Wars (ep IV,) spoken by Han Solo.

Han and Chewie around the corner from a squad of stormtroopers*
Han: Didn't we just leave this party?
 
"Minding One's Own Business"-- What One Should NEVER do as it inevitably leads to being shot or stabbed... most often in a non-life threatening manner.

a la while running the list in the AM: "Yeah, we got 3 20-somethings last night; admitted for minding their own business, all with chest tubes; low output."
 
Yes, it does in fact seem that minding your own business and getting admitted to an outside hospital are two of the most dangerous activities in the community.
 
I have one that is specific to one of my attendings, but I found it entertaining (and appropriate for my life as an intern):

"Goldilocks" - used to describe retraction. Not to hard, not too soft, but just right. As in, "Hey, intern: Goldilocks on that rich."
 
FaytlND said:
"Goldilocks" - used to describe retraction. Not to hard, not too soft, but just right. As in, "Hey, intern: Goldilocks on that rich."
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Could also be used to describe driving the camera on laparoscopic cases. No matter what you do or how you adjust based on how they liked it 5 minutes ago, it will be wrong. That's a thankless job if there ever was one.
 
Guile said:
Could also be used to describe driving the camera on laparoscopic cases. No matter what you do or how you adjust based on how they liked it 5 minutes ago, it will be wrong. That's a thankless job if there ever was one.
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and then when they drive it for you, you're staring at the uterus instead of the gall bladder 😀 "Uh, Dr. Staff, can you redirect that camera, please?
 
TheProwler said:
and then when they drive it for you, you're staring at the uterus instead of the gall bladder 😀 "Uh, Dr. Staff, can you redirect that camera, please?
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...well, I saw a colorectal fellow once try to biopsy the cervix during a screening colonoscopy. "hey, isn't that the cervix?" "oh, uh, yeah, let's start over". 😆 😆

"double dip"--scope from above and below
"rectal ranger"--colorectal surgeon
*one index finger pointing upward with small twisting motion*---symbol for either 'rectal exam' or 'needs colonoscopy' depending on context.
 
Smurfette said:
...well, I saw a colorectal fellow once try to biopsy the cervix during a screening colonoscopy. "hey, isn't that the cervix?" "oh, uh, yeah, let's start over". 😆 😆
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Wow! That's a classic.

I was an M3 watching an M4 do his part in a trauma secondary survey. They rolled the patient, and he dutifully lubed up his finger and did a....vaginal exam. Except he didn't notice, nor did anyone else. I imagine the patient did, because she was wide awake, and I noticed because I was standing a ways back at the right angle to see it all.

I didn't say anything because she was neurologically intact, and it really didn't seem relevant. Plus, it would have been really awkward....but I did tell the other guy later 😀
 
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One that I learned on SICU...

Fourth Spacing (the next bit after 3rd spacing): When the blood you're hanging is going into the patient and straight onto the floor

As in: That ruptured AAA got 12 units of cells but he just 4th spaced it onto my shoes
 
These are great! Gonna have to incorporate some of them into our lingo.

A few more that I didn't see on the list...

HLF- Hysterical Latin Female (self explanatory)

ITP- Intubate the Penis (please place a foley)

ETP- Extubate the Penis (please remove the foley)

How many buzzards or vultures? = Quick assessment of the ICU Patient. The more vultures circling the patient, the closer they are to death...
 
Re: specialty-specific attire. At my med school the OBGYN residents rocked "fancy" Danskos. Not just black or red/brown but leopard pattern or bedazzled in some way. Does this happen elsewhere?
 
ScotchBonnet said:
Re: specialty-specific attire. At my med school the OBGYN residents rocked "fancy" Danskos. Not just black or red/brown but leopard pattern or bedazzled in some way. Does this happen elsewhere?
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If by "specialty" you mean "nurses", then yes.

There's one trauma attending at my program who wears the zebra print ones, but other than that, I don't see many MDs (regardless of specialty) wearing them. All of the nurses, on the other hand, do have them (snakeskin, flowered, etc.)
 
ScotchBonnet said:
Re: specialty-specific attire. At my med school the OBGYN residents rocked "fancy" Danskos. Not just black or red/brown but leopard pattern or bedazzled in some way. Does this happen elsewhere?
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one of the senior trauma surgeons where I went to med school wore bright red Danskos. She is very petite though.
 
ScotchBonnet said:
Re: specialty-specific attire. At my med school the OBGYN residents rocked "fancy" Danskos. Not just black or red/brown but leopard pattern or bedazzled in some way. Does this happen elsewhere?
Click to expand...
I have also observed this trend in OB/GYN. Leopard print, snake skin, bedazzled. I saw a lot of Danskos I didn't know existed on that rotation.
 
I am in an area that has a lot of female general surgery residents, and there is some variety in Dansko wear, not necessarily bedazzled, and everyone avoids the felt/suede ones for obvious reasons.
 
At my program we slang our fellow residents (and so do the attendings):

Don't "last name" the bowel!!
"last name"-bidity and "last name"-tality conference
 
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redbeans said:
At my program we slang our fellow residents (and so do the attendings):

Don't "last name" the bowel!!
"last name"-bidity and "last name"-tality conference
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This is funny once. Then after that, you're no longer witty.
 
Ah, yes. We used to call any boneheaded move/action/inaction/technique the "last name" maneuver.

As in,
attending: "Don't do a _______ maneuver!"
me: ???!!!! "A what?"
attending: "You, know, like last week when _____ rolled the patient and both chest tubes fell out because she forgot to suture them!"
 
In places where I've trained, those have been called "Named Procedures". The best one was the "Smith Manuever" which was an axillary vein injury during sentinel lymph node biopsy under MAC/Loc. Hilarity did not ensue.
 
maxheadroom said:
In places where I've trained, those have been called "Named Procedures". The best one was the "Smith Manuever" which was an axillary vein injury during sentinel lymph node biopsy under MAC/Loc. Hilarity did not ensue.
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I always give crap to one of the interns for causing bleeding during port placement....he always manages to bag the "vein of (intern last name)."
 
Speaking of "named" procedures:

Beginning of case, setting up suction, bovie, etc..
Staff: Hand me a [last name, usually a close colleague, always male].
Tech: A what, sir?
Staff: You know, a non-penetrator.

As someone above points out, the first time its funny, but it quickly gets old.
 
SLUser11 said:
I always give crap to one of the interns for causing bleeding during port placement....he always manages to bag the "vein of (intern last name)."
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I've always called it the "meandering artery of <xxx>," as it is never in the same place but it always bleeds like crazy.
 
from Wikipedia

  • 6PFP - 6-pack and a fishing pole, as in "this patient doesn't need chemo, he needs 6PFP." - Usually referring to an end-stage patient who should go die somewhere else.
  • 404 moment - The point in a doctor's ward round when medical records cannot be located. Comes from HTTP 404 error "Not Found".[2]
  • AGMI - Ain't Gonna Make It
  • Agnostication - A substitute for prognostication. Term used to describe the usually vain attempt to answer the question: "How long have I got, doc?" [2]
  • Appy - a person's appendix or a patient with appendicitis [3]
  • ART - Assuming Room Temperature (dying)
  • Ash cash - UK peculiarity of house officers obtaining payment for signing cremation forms[4]
  • ATS - Acute Thespian Syndrome (the patient is faking illness)
  • Baby Catcher - an obstetrician [3]
  • Bagging - manually helping a patient breathe using an Ambu bag attached to a mask that covers the face [3]
  • Bash cash - UK peculiarity of Registrars obtaining payment for medical reports on patients who have allegedly been assaulted[4]
  • Beached Whale - A patient who is unable to get out of bed.
  • Blamestorming - Apportionment of blame after the wrong leg or kidney is removed or some other particularly egregious foul-up.[2]
  • Blood Suckers/Leeches/Vampires - those who take blood samples, such as laboratory technicians and Phlebotomists [3]
  • Bounceback - a patient who returns to the emergency department with the same complaints shortly after being released [3]
  • Bury the Hatchet - accidentally leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient [3]
  • CNS-QNS - Central Nervous System - Quantity Not Sufficient.[1]
  • Code Brown - a faecal incontinence emergency. Often used by nurses and medical technicians requesting help cleaning up an unexpected bowel movement.[2][3]
  • Code Yellow - a patient who has lost control of his or her bladder [3]
  • CTD - "Circling The Drain" [1][2][5] May also mean "Certain To Die"
  • Crump - When a patient tries to die on the medical practitioner. Usage: "My patient tried to crump on me repeatedly throughout the night".
  • DBI - Dirt Bag Index - multiply the number of tattoos by the number of missing teeth to give an estimate of the number of days since the patient last bathed.[1]
  • Departure lounge - geriatric ward [1]
  • Dermaholiday - dermatology, considered to be a less-busy department. See rheumaholiday
  • DFKDFC - Don't ****ing know, don't ****ing care - a diagnosis often applied to a surgery's most regular visitors. Most often treated with a low-dosage course of Amoxycillin.
  • DFO - Done Fell Out. Died. DFO is used when the death is not witnessed. "Carol Kirby DFOd before we got here."
  • DIC - Death Is Coming, Death In Cage - also an acronym for Disseminated intravascular coagulation
  • Digging for Worms - varicose vein surgery [1]
  • Disco biscuits - refers to the nightclub drug ecstasy. Usage: "The man in cubicle three looks like he's taken one too many disco biscuit".[2] Also means the drug quaaludes.
  • Doc in a Box - a small health-care center, usually with high staff turnover [3]
  • Donorcycle - American nursing slang for a motorcycle, so named due to the amount of head trauma associated with motorcycle accidents, but less so with the body, making the perfect candidate for organ donation (noting the lack of helmet laws in some American states)[6]
  • DRT - Dead Right There
  • EFT - Eleventh Floor Transfer (in a 10 floor hospital; refers to patient who is very close to death)
  • Ex Arbor - Someone who is out of their tree, literally out of their mind.
  • FUBAR - ****ed Up Beyond All Recognition
  • F.BUNDY - Refers to slowly dying patient who is ****ed, But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet. Also TF.BUNDY: Totally ****ed but unfortunately not dead yet.
  • FLK - Funny Looking Kid - used to indicate a child (usually a newborn) whose habitus or overall appearance, while normal in gross anatomy, suggests a need further medical investigation for congenital and genetic anomalies.[1][2] "Funny", in this sense, means strange or unusual, not laughable.
  • FOS - Full Of ****, a diagnosis given to a patient that is likely not telling the truth or, alternatively to a patient with a bowel obstruction.
  • Frequent Flyer - Patient who calls ambulance multiple times usually when they could seek help in better ways.[1]
  • Freud Squad - the psychiatry department [1][3]
  • FTD - Fixin' to Die [7]
  • Gas Passer - an anesthesiologist (also Gasser, Gas Man or Gaswallah) [1][3]
  • GI Rounds - medical staff taking a break to eat lunch/dinner
  • GOMER - "get out of my emergency room" - a patient, usually poor or elderly, in the emergency room with a chronic, non-emergency condition. The name was popularized by Samuel Shem in his novel The House of God.[8]
  • GLM - good looking mum (MILF in the US) [1][5]
  • GPO - "Good for Parts Only [1][2][5]
  • GROLIES - Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt.[1]
  • Handbag positive - confused patient (usually elderly lady) lying on hospital bed clutching handbag [1]
  • Hasselhoff - a term for any patient who shows up in the emergency room with an injury for which there is a bizarre explanation. Original Source: Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff, who hit his head on a chandelier while shaving. The broken glass severed four tendons and an artery in his right arm.[2]
  • HP - Hispanic Panic, used to describe a Hispanic patient who believes their condition is worse than it actually is. This is generally a result of the perceived over-dramatic and theatrical nature of many Hispanic cultures.
  • Jack Bauer - Doctor still up and working after 24 hours. (After the main character in 24)[citation needed]
  • JFDI - Just ****ing Do It - an order from stressed registrar/resident to argumentative know-it-all junior medical staff who are complaining and seriously underperforming during busiest on-call night from hell.
  • JFO - Just fell out. Used in the present tense when a person dies. "Carol Kirby JFOd. We saw the whole thing!"
  • LOBNH - Lights On But Nobody Home [1][2]
  • LLS - Looks Like **** - A first impression formed by emergency medical responders to a trauma patient showing signs of shock, such as pallor.
  • M & Ms - mortality and morbidity conferences where doctors and other health-care professionals discuss mistakes and patient deaths (sometimes also called Death & Donuts) [3]
  • Milk Of Amnesia - Propofol, an anesthetic drug with a milky white color (and a reference to the term milk of magnesia).
  • NAD - No Abnormality Detected or Not Actually Done[4]
  • NAI - Non Accidental Injury - when patient is suspected of having been assaulted but hasn't said so. Often used as code for suspected child abuse.
  • NBI - No Bony Injury or No Bloody Idea
  • NFN - Normal For Norfolk, (a rural English county stereotypically associated with inbreeding.) [1][2]
  • NOF - Fractured neck of femur
  • O-sign - A patient is "giving the O-sign" when very sick and lying with mouth open. This is followed by the Q-sign - when the tongue hangs out of the mouth - when the patient becomes terminal.[2][3]
  • Oligoneuronal meaning someone who is thick (not smart).[2]
  • PAFO or PFO - Pissed And Fell Over [1][2]
  • Panmetabolopathy -a state wherein many (or all) metabolic parameters are out of bounds (usually associated with "Rule of Five" (see below))
  • PGT - Pissed and Got Thumped [1][2]
  • Polybabydadic - The state of having illegitimate children by several fathers, known or unknown.[9]
  • PPP - Piss Poor Protoplasm - a patient endowed with inferior/defective genetic material
  • Pumpkin positive refers to the idea that a person's brain is so tiny that a penlight shone into their mouth will make their empty head gleam like a Jack-o'-lantern.[1][2]
  • Q-sign - see O-Sign [2][3]
  • Rear Admiral - a proctologist [3]
  • Rheumaholiday - rheumatology, considered by hard-pressed juniors to be a less busy department. See dermaholiday [1]
  • Rule of Five - means that if more than five of the patient's orifices are obscured by tubing, he has no chance of survival.[2]
  • Slasher - surgeon [1]
  • Shotgunning - ordering a wide variety of tests in the hope that one will show what's wrong with a patient [3]
  • SOCMOB - Standing On Corner, Minding Own Business, referencing an assault victim who is lying about their injuries to avoid discussing their own illicit acts at the time of the attack.
  • Special K - Slang for the anesthetic and amnestic drug Ketamine.
  • Status Hispanicus - An overly agitated Hispanic patient (often Caribbean, seldom Mexican) who cannot stop screaming about their condition without providing useful information.[10]
  • Testiculation - Description of a gesture typically used by hospital consultant "when holding forth on subject on which he or she has little knowledge". Gesture is of an upturned hand with outstretched fingers pointed upwards, clutching an invisible pair of testicles.[2]
  • TEETH - tried everything else, try homeopathy.[1][5]
  • Tox Screen - toxicology screen, testing the blood for the level and type of drugs in a patient's system[3]
  • TTFO - Told To **** Off.[1]
  • TTR - Tea Time Review [1]
  • UBI - "Unexplained Beer Injury" [1][2][3][5]
  • UDI - "Unexplainable Drinking Injury"
  • Vitamin H - A Haldol injection, used in the ER setting to rapidly sedate patients who display dangerous or destructive behavior that threatens the safety of hospital staff and other patients[11].
  • WNL - Used for recording vital signs. It can mean "within normal limits" or "we never looked".
  • Woolworth's Test - Anaesthetic term (if you could have imagined patient shopping in Woolies, it's safe to give a general anaesthetic) [1]
  • WTDB (Pronounced "whiskey tango DB") - White Trash Douchebag[citation needed]
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"Near a hospital" - designation for a unit where you question the nursing/safety.

"Mr. Smith is on 1NE tonight -- at least he'll be near a hospital"
 
blue2000 said:
"Near a hospital" - designation for a unit where you question the nursing/safety.

"Mr. Smith is on 1NE tonight -- at least he'll be near a hospital"
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Haha, that's how we refer to our MICU. They always hand us the worst consults.
 
maxheadroom said:
We always called the MICU the Death Star.
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The Death Star in our system had two meanings: on the one hand, it meant the large University hospital in the system (I'm rotating over the death star for six months, I don't know if I'll survive...) or at the University hospital, the top floor was bone marrow transplant/heme once, which always gave the worst consults, just because the disease process is so awful for surgical problems (perfed diverticulitis in a neutropenic patient is a godawful situation, its depressing to even contemplate).
 
blue2000 said:
bone marrow transplant/heme once, which always gave the worst consults, just because the disease process is so awful for surgical problems (perfed diverticulitis in a neutropenic patient is a godawful situation, its depressing to even contemplate).
Click to expand...

Agreed, those consults made me want to just slink away and say "comfort measures only." The patients with nasty woulds from graft-versus-host gave me nightmares.
 
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