The Discrepancies between Official Anatomical and Clinical Nomenclature in Vascular Surgery: How to Overcome It?

BACKGROUND

Discrepancies between anatomical and clinical terms-particularly in vascular surgery-can cause confusion, potentially leading to misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment. The objective is to identify discrepancies between the anatomical terminology used in medical records related to vascular surgery and the standardized Terminologia Anatomica (TA) 2019, and suggest updates to improve accuracy and consistency.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 200 medical records was conducted using data from the electronic database of the Clinic for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, University Clinical Center of Vojvodina. Anatomical terms extracted from the reports were cataloged and compared to TA 2019. Discrepancies were recorded, and data were statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel 365.

RESULTS

Among 1,845 anatomical terms analyzed, 27.32% differed from the nomenclature in TA 2019. Eleven anatomical terms were either absent from or significantly different from those in TA 2019. Notably, 2 of these terms ranked among the 5 most frequent in clinical reports. Abbreviations were used in 79% of cases, and Latin was predominant for anatomical terminology (89.11%).

CONCLUSION

Significant discrepancies are evident between clinical and standardized anatomical terminology in vascular surgery.