How to Pronounce Sigmoid Volvulus

Say it like this: SIG-moyd VOL-vyoo-lus. The first part rhymes with "big," the second part sounds like "void" with an S in front, and the last part is "vul" (like in vulture) followed by "us." The stress falls on the first syllable of each word: SIG-moyd and VOL-vyoo-lus.

Many people say "sig-MOY-d" by stressing the second syllable instead of the first—but the correct way is SIG-moyd with the stress on SIG. For volvulus, people sometimes say "vol-VOL-us" when it should be VOL-vyoo-lus.

Sigmoid breaks into three syllables: SIG-moid. Volvulus breaks into three syllables: VOL-vu-lus. Together, the phrase has six syllables total: SIG-moid VOL-vu-lus.

Sigmoid comes from the Greek letter sigma (which looks like an S) and the suffix -oid, meaning "shaped like." So sigmoid literally means "S-shaped." It's used in anatomy to describe the S-shaped part of the large intestine.

Volvulus comes from the Latin word volvere, which means "to turn" or "to twist." So volvulus describes a twisting or rotation of an organ. The word is used whenever any part of the intestines twists on itself.

Sigmoid volvulus means a twisted S-shaped section of the intestines. It's when that part of the colon rotates or spirals around itself, kind of like when you twist a towel to wring it out.

Other types of volvulus include midgut volvulus (twisting of the small intestine) and cecal volvulus (twisting of the beginning of the large intestine). All of these words use volvulus to describe a twisting of different parts of the intestines.

Here's an example: "The radiologist explained that the patient's abdominal imaging showed signs of sigmoid volvulus." This sentence uses the term to name a specific condition being observed in a medical image.