Medical jargon help?

April 21, 2006 12:10 PM

"tab-gen abortion" "a demonstration set of lams, pale green matchsticks made of compressed seaweed." These phrases occur in a novel I'm reading; the speaker is (presumably) a gynecologist or CNP who is counseling a patient about a second-trimester abortion. I Googled and searched various medical encylopedias and came up empty. What is "tab-gen"? And are lams some kind of abortifacient suppository? Thanks.
posted by scratch to health & fitness (8 comments total)

tab-gen = tablet generation = RU-486?
posted by speranza at 12:24 PM on April 21, 2006

laminaria?
posted by small_ruminant at 12:24 PM on April 21, 2006

*wiggles delightedly* Thanks, speranza and ruminant. The context of the novel didn't quite make it clear enough but your answers did! The hive mind, outstanding as usual.
posted by scratch at 1:09 PM on April 21, 2006

That was my first best answer - thanks scratch!
posted by speranza at 2:05 PM on April 21, 2006

lams are definately laminaria.

But RU-486 isn't used in a second trimester abortion. In fact, it isn't even used for the entire first trimester. So either tab-gen means something else, or the writer should have done more research.
posted by raedyn at 4:13 PM on April 21, 2006

Bah - I should've realised that raedyn. Sorry scratch.
posted by speranza at 4:59 PM on April 21, 2006

TAB is medical shorthand for" Therapeutic Abortion". I'm not sure what TAB-Gen means, though.
posted by 6:1 at 11:54 PM on April 21, 2006

Just out of curiosity: what novel?
posted by IvyMike at 9:31 AM on April 22, 2006