Lateralized Procedure Naming Conventions

This Editorial Guide is used for Education Purposes Only. It is used in the Authoring Courses and Certifications. It is based on the January 2026 Editorial Guide.

Procedure concepts with a body structure that has a left/right side

When creating a lateralized procedure concept, two concepts should be created:

1. concept for the left side

2. concept for the right side

When creating a lateralized procedure concept, if a non-lateralized parent does not exist, then it should be created as well. In other words, do not just create the right and left versions, but also create a concept to represent the laterality-agnostic parent.

• For example,

  • When creating Excision of left mastoid and Excision of right mastoid, also ensure a concept for Excision of mastoid exists.

The acceptable naming pattern for procedures with lateralizable body parts:

• FSN: of bilateral (procedure)

• PT: of bilateral

• SYN: of both

Bilateral procedures should be modeled using two relationship groups, one for each lateralized body structure.

• For example,

  • 895470004 | Amputation of bilateral upper limbs (procedure)|

    • FSN: Amputation of bilateral upper limbs (procedure)

    • PT: Amputation of bilateral upper limbs

    • SYN: Amputation of both upper limbs

Other synonyms may be added if requested, e.g. L eft and right X ; Bilateral X, etc.

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