A word you use?

[olydiagron.livejournal.com]

Hi! I am studying for a translator test, and in the dictionary I have, i often see that a word of latin origin (that we do not use in common language in swedish) is translated into the very same word of latin origin in Russian. That leaves me with the question: Do the Russians really use this word? For example the word абсцесс. Do most russian know that word, or would you actually say нарыв? If i am translating for a russian patient in a swedish hospital, what word should I use?
(And also, if anyone feels like it, correct the language in my childrens story? It is the last post in may zhzh.)