| Course | HS111 Medical Terminology |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 10 |
| Paper type | Terminology case summary |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HS111 Unit 10
One Hospital Stay, Six Body Systems: A Unit 10 Terminology Case Summary of Guillain-Barre Syndrome After a Stomach Infection
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HS111: Medical Terminology
Unit 10 Terminology Case Summary
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The patient and the hospital course are composite; the clinical review and textbooks cited are real.
The Case in Brief
A 38-year-old man was admitted with tingling in his feet and hands and weakness in both legs that had worsened over four days. Two weeks earlier he had diarrhea and abdominal cramps that resolved on their own. During the stay, the weakness spread to his arms, and his breathing was monitored closely. He received treatment, did not need a ventilator and was discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation unit after twelve days. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an immune disorder of the peripheral nerves that often follows an infection (Leonhard et al., 2019).
Terms by System and Stage
Digestive system, history. Gastroenteritis: gastr/o (stomach) + enter (small intestine) + -itis (inflammation). The stomach bug two weeks before admission. Diarrhea: dia- (through) + -rrhea (flow, discharge).
Nervous system, admission. Paresthesia: par- (abnormal) + esthes (sensation) + -ia (condition); tingling or pins and needles. Areflexia: a- (without) + reflex + -ia; absent reflexes when the knee and ankle were tapped. Polyneuropathy: poly- (many) + neur/o (nerve) + -pathy (disease); disease of many peripheral nerves. Ascending paralysis: weakness that starts in the legs and moves upward; paralysis from para- (beside, abnormal) and -lysis (loosening).
Nervous system, testing. Lumbar puncture: removal of spinal fluid through a needle in the lower back; lumb (loin) + -ar. Cerebrospinal fluid: cerebr/o (brain) + spin (spine) + -al. Electromyography: electr/o (electricity) + my/o (muscle) + -graphy (process of recording). Demyelinating: de- (removal) + myelin (the coating of nerves) + -ating; the nerve tests showed damage to that coating.
Respiratory system, monitoring. Forced vital capacity: how much air the lungs push out in one hard breath after filling completely, checked often because weakness can reach the breathing muscles. Dyspnea: dys- (difficult) + -pnea (breathing). Intubation: placing a tube into the windpipe, prepared for but not needed.
Cardiovascular system, monitoring. Tachycardia: tachy- (fast) + card + -ia. Dysautonomia: dys- (abnormal) + autonom (self-governing, the automatic nervous system) + -ia; unstable heart rate and blood pressure.
Blood and immune system, treatment. Intravenous immunoglobulin: intra- (within) + ven/o (vein) + -ous; immun/o (protection) + globulin (a type of protein). Antibodies given through a vein to calm the immune attack on the nerves.
Musculoskeletal system and rehabilitation, discharge. Quadriparesis: quadri- (four) + -paresis (slight paralysis); weakness of all four limbs. Physiatry: physi/o (nature, physical) + -iatry (treatment); rehabilitation medicine.
The same root, neur, appears from the first day to the last, while the systems around it change, which is how one disease can teach a whole course's vocabulary.
The Stay Day by Day, With Its Terms
Day 1, emergency department. The note records paresthesia in both feet and hands, bilateral lower extremity weakness and areflexia at the knees and ankles. Bilateral means both sides (bi- = two, later = side). Lower extremity means leg.
Days 2 and 3, neurology unit. A lumbar puncture finds high protein in the cerebrospinal fluid with a normal cell count, a pattern described as albuminocytologic dissociation, a long term best read as albumin (protein) and cyt/o (cell) parted from each other. Electromyography shows a demyelinating polyneuropathy. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin begins.
Days 4 to 6, intensive care unit. Weakness reaches the arms, now quadriparesis. Forced vital capacity is checked every few hours. Brief tachycardia and swings in blood pressure are recorded as dysautonomia. Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing (dys- + phag = eat, swallow + -ia), leads to a temporary change to soft foods.
Days 7 to 12, neurology unit. Strength stops declining and begins to return. Physical and occupational therapists start daily sessions, and the physiatry team plans transfer to inpatient rehabilitation.
Abbreviations in the Record
GBS, Guillain-Barre syndrome. LP, lumbar puncture. CSF, cerebrospinal fluid. EMG, electromyography. FVC, forced vital capacity. IVIG, intravenous immunoglobulin. ICU, intensive care unit. All were written out at first use in the summary, following the course's rule for abbreviations that could be read two ways.
Plain-Language Summary
After a stomach infection, the man's immune system attacked the nerves that carry signals to his muscles. He lost feeling and strength, first in his legs and then in his arms. Doctors watched his breathing closely and gave him a treatment through his veins. He began to recover and moved to a rehabilitation unit to rebuild his strength.
Terms That Do Not Decode
Guillain-Barre is an eponym, named after the physicians who described it, and has no word parts. Immunoglobulin decodes only partly. Both were defined from the textbook glossary (Ehrlich et al., 2021). Albuminocytologic dissociation decodes but reads oddly, so the summary gives its parts and then a plain version: more protein than expected, without the extra cells that infection would bring.
Check
Every term was checked against the course textbooks, and every abbreviation against the facility list used in earlier units (Gylys & Wedding, 2017).
References
Ehrlich, A., Schroeder, C. L., Ehrlich, L., & Schroeder, K. A. (2021). Medical terminology for health professions (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Gylys, B. A., & Wedding, M. E. (2017). Medical terminology systems: A body systems approach (8th ed.). F. A. Davis.
Leonhard, S. E., Mandarakas, M. R., Gondim, F. A. A., Bateman, K., Ferreira, M. L. B., Cornblath, D. R., van Doorn, P. A., Dourado, M. E., Hughes, R. A. C., Islam, B., Kusunoki, S., Pardo, C. A., Reisin, R., Sejvar, J. J., Shahrizaila, N., Soares, C., Umapathi, T., Wang, Y., Yiu, E. M., ... Jacobs, B. C. (2019). Diagnosis and management of Guillain-Barre syndrome in ten steps. Nature Reviews Neurology, 15(11), 671-683. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0250-9
HS111 Unit 10 instructions, in plain terms
The final unit usually asks students to write a case summary of a composite patient, using and decoding terms from several body systems. Lengths vary, often two to four pages. Instructors expect accurate decoding, organization that follows the patient's course or the body systems, attention to abbreviations and, in many sections, a plain-language summary. Choosing a condition that crosses several systems gives more opportunity to use the course's vocabulary. Eponyms and terms without word parts should be identified and defined from a source. Many prompts ask for terms from admission through discharge. The summary should describe the case rather than give clinical advice. Some sections ask students to bold or underline each decoded term so graders can count them.
How this HS111 Unit 10 example is built
The summary opens with the case in brief and a one-sentence description of the syndrome. Terms are then decoded by system and stage, from gastroenteritis and diarrhea to paresthesia, areflexia, lumbar puncture, electromyography, forced vital capacity, dysautonomia, intravenous immunoglobulin and physiatry; the highlighted sentence traces the root neur across the stay. A day-by-day course places the terms in sequence. Abbreviations are written out, a plain-language summary follows and a section explains the eponym and a long Latin-derived phrase. A final check against the textbooks closes the paper. The day-by-day course uses the same terms as the system sections, so a reader meets each word twice in different contexts.
HS111 Unit 10 rubric: what earns full points
Case summaries are commonly graded on breadth of terminology across systems, accuracy of decoding, organization, plain-language clarity and correct handling of abbreviations and eponyms. Breadth often carries significant weight in a closing unit, since it shows the whole course was learned. Accuracy remains essential for every term. Organization rewards a structure that follows the patient's course or the systems logically. The plain-language summary is judged by whether a family member could understand it. Writing out abbreviations at first use and defining eponyms from a source earn credit. Textbook citations complete the score. Instructors often count how many systems the case reaches and how many terms are fully decoded.
Common HS111 Unit 10 mistakes, and how to avoid them
A frequent weakness is a case limited to one or two systems, which misses the purpose of a closing unit. Another is listing terms without placing them in the patient's course, so the summary reads like a glossary. Some students decode common terms but skip the difficult ones. Others leave abbreviations unexplained or try to decode eponyms. A plain-language section that still uses technical words weakens the paper. If your instructor assigned a different condition or wants you to choose one, send the prompt, and a case summary can be drafted that decodes terms from admission through discharge across several systems. Choosing a condition so rare that the textbook covers none of its terms makes decoding unnecessarily hard.
Get an HS111 Unit 10 example written to your instructions
Upload your Unit 10 case prompt, any scenario details your instructor supplied, and the rubric. A custom terminology case summary, decoded throughout and built around a composite patient, reaches you in 24-48h. Its glossary sits wherever your prompt prefers, side column or footnote, and the first summary is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HS111 Unit 10 questions, answered
How many terms should a case summary include?
Enough to show every system the course covered, within the length the prompt sets. A summary that decodes forty terms thinly usually scores below one that decodes twenty-five thoroughly. If the prompt names a minimum, meet it; if it lists required systems, each one needs at least a few tagged terms so the grader can see the coverage.
Can I choose the patient's condition?
Where the prompt allows it, yes, and a condition that crosses several systems gives you more to work with. Infections that spread, chronic diseases with complications and injuries needing surgery all bring in vocabulary from different units. Keep the patient composite and the details ordinary. If the prompt supplies a case, use it as given rather than substituting one you prefer.
Does the plain-language section need citations?
Usually not, since it restates the case rather than making new claims. The decoding and any clinical facts in the narrative should cite your course text or a medical dictionary. Read the rubric, though, because a few sections want a reference for the plain-language version as well, typically the source used to confirm that the restated meanings are accurate.
Where can I find a free HS111 Unit 10 sample paper?
The complete Unit 10 case summary is on this page, decoding the terms of a Guillain-Barre syndrome hospital stay across six body systems.
Why choose Guillain-Barre syndrome for a terminology case?
It touches the digestive, nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular, immune and musculoskeletal systems in one stay, so it uses vocabulary from the whole course.