# The SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). Best medical acronym ever? Do you have a fave medical acronym? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938 "2021-09-01T21:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/1 "2021-09-01T21:21:12Z")
My patient with ENT issues underwent the SNOT-22 a while back, and I finally got the report. It’s a predictor of post-surgical improvement in patients with chronic sinusitis. [SNOT-22](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3977600/) This test replaced the previous SNOT-20 test, basically by adding two more questions to the test. It asks questions about nasal d/c, facial pain, breathing difficulty, sleep problems, ear symptoms, sneezing, coughing, depression etc. asked prior to sinus/nasal surgery and 6 months after, to measure whether or not surgery helped. It seems to show that people who had more/worse symptoms before surgery had better outcomes than those with fewer/lesser symptoms. Good to know, thanks for the info. I’d been unaware of the SNOT-22 test until now, but I just wanted to share it because I think it’s one of the top medical acronyms I’ve encountered. It dispels the tired old saw that otolaryngologists are no fun. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/2 "2021-09-02T16:38:32Z")
Not a medical acronym, but I still recall one of the most tortured acronyms ever from a book I read as a kid. It was for a robotic whale observation system that, itself, looked like a whale – the Motorized Observation Biotelemetry Yacht Data Integration and Control, or **MOBY-DIC**. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/3 "2021-09-02T16:42:45Z")
**SLUDGE** refers to the symptoms people get from sarin poisoning, all referring to body secretions: Saliva, Lacrimination, Urination, Defecation, Gastrointestinal distress, and Emesis. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/4 "2021-09-02T16:43:25Z")
Here’s the only reference I’ve ever found to **MOBY-DIC** (page 5): > **[4.how-why-robots.pdf](https://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/4.how-why-robots.pdf)** > > 7.32 MB edited to add: Wow! Here’s another! Corroboration! > **[Whale 'eavesdropper' gets workout](https://calisphere.org/item/7f034faab921d49c89de61548d7b8b2f/)** > > Photograph caption dated March 1, 1963 reads, "William Sutherland, Sylmar, climbed into the pool at Lockheed-California Co.'s Burbank plant the other day and set about testing 'Moby Dic \[sic\] I,' a sea-sound reporter that will sneak up on whales and... ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/5 "2021-09-02T17:03:34Z")
The PUQE questionnaire (Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis). > **[The PUQE Nausea and Vomiting Score | babyMed.com](https://www.babymed.com/puqe-nausea-and-vomiting-score)** > > Nausea and vomiting are normal to a certain extent. But when do you know it's too much and when do you know you need to see a doctor? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/6 "2021-09-02T17:07:23Z")
That’s quite some snot, that SNOT-22. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/7 "2021-09-02T17:43:36Z")
**ACHOO** - Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioopthalmic Outburst I learned about it from the interesting random fact thread. Very contrived acronym, and they skipped the “D”. > [@Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/2375): > > Photic sneeze response is also called autosomal dominant compelling helio-ophthalmic outburst syndrome … or ACHOO syndrome woman_facepalming:t2 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/8 "2021-09-03T05:31:44Z")
great acronym but why “Sino”? Does sino not mean Chinese? Nothing in the article linked points to why the term “sino” is used… ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/9 "2021-09-03T06:07:52Z")
Sino-, from late Latin _Sinae_ does mean Chinese, but in this case the sino- prefix undoubtedly refers to the _sinuses_ (from a different Latin word _sinus_ meaning “bay” or “curve”). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/10 "2021-09-03T12:38:07Z")
From which we also get the term ‘sinuous’. The prefix ‘sino’ for referring to the sinus, nasal, and palate regions of the head is extremely common in medicine. **markn\_1** is on the nares with his post. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/11 "2021-09-03T22:45:31Z")
**DOA** (Drunk, Often or Always) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/12 "2021-09-04T01:15:55Z")
One of my favorites from long ago when doing forensic pathology rotations was SMELLBAD, an acronym which I believe was intended to aid in estimating time of death. I went back to my old files but couldn’t find the original reference. An Internet search doesn’t turn up anything helpful. Hopefully some Doper has knowledge of SMELLBAD and can enlighten us as to its components.\* \*I suspect such things as Lividity, Autolysis and Slippage figure into creation of the acronym. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/13 "2021-09-04T01:21:18Z")
“I was told my kid was in an accident and was brought here. Where is he?” “I. C. U.” “I see you, too, but where the hell is he?” 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/14 "2021-09-04T01:25:06Z")
@Jackmannii I found this but couldn’t track it down further. “Smellbad” Study Zumwalt et al, 1982, JFS 549-54 “A study by Zumwalt, Bost, and Sunshine in 1982 [11] examined the fluids of 130 putrefied bodies for the presence of alcohol. The degree of putrefaction was specified in the study and characterized by an objectively defined putrefaction score, SMELLBAD.” [alcohol in decomposed bodies](https://searchfortruth.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/alcohol-in-decomposed-bodies-postmortem-synthesis-and-distribution.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sinonasal-outcome-test-snot-22-best-medical-acronym-ever-do-you-have-a-fave-medical-acronym/949938/15 "2021-09-04T16:09:16Z")
Thanks, that’s a promising lead. I don’t think I’ll spend $25 for a copy of the original paper, which may further explain SMELLBAD and its uses.