Making sense of disorders of hemostasis and thrombosis at the reference desk.

This paper discusses concepts and terminology of some aspects of disorders of hemostasis (stopping bleeding) and thrombosis (blood clotting) as it relates to medical reference work. Details of anatomic, biochemical, and pathologic processes are not discussed. Specific terminology involved in this area will be reviewed in order to help ensure a good approach to developing prudent strategies for database searching of the medical literature. MeSH thesauri terms are discussed and text word synonyms are presented that provide tools for thorough searching techniques. Examples of specific search strategies are illustrated.