Medical terms which mean chest pain include pectoralgia, thoracalgia, pleuralgia and pleurodynia.
The combining forms pector/o and thorac/o mean chest. The combining form pleur/o mean side, rib and pleura (the membranes which enclose the lungs). The suffixes -algia and -dynia mean pain.
Pectoralgia is used to refer to neuralgic (nerve) pain in the chest. Thoracalgia refers to pain in the chest wall, as does pleurodynia. Pleuralgia means pain in the pleura or in the side. These words are rarely used in the real world but exist in the medical dictionary. Pleurodynia is the most commonly used term.
I teach Medical Terminology. Reference: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary.
Response last updated by Terry on Oct 17 2016.
Sep 17 2002, 11:46 AM
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