The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave clearance to Intuitive Surgical, Inc., a Mountain View, CA–based company to begin selling its da Vinci™ Surgical System in the United States. The clearance allows the System to be used for such laparoscopic abdominal surgical procedures...
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET™) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure for treating patients with chronic lower back pain caused by tears and small herniations of the lumbar discs. With IDET, physicians deliver heat directly within the symptomatic discs to alleviate the pain.
Percutaneous lumbar discectomy (PLD) is a minimally invasive procedure for treating patients who suffer from low back and leg pain due to a herniated vertebral disc. Vertebral discs are the cushioning and connecting materials that lie between the vertebrae of the spine. They protect the...
Cardiac scoring is a screening method used to detect calcium build-up in the coronary arteries. As a diagnostic tool, the examination can give physicians information that allows assessment of coronary artery disease (arteriosclerosis), which is the narrowing of the arteries that is usually...
Lactation consultants (LCs) are allied health professionals who possess the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes to provide quality breastfeeding assistance to mothers and babies. They promote the benefits of breastfeeding by teaching prenatal or postpartum classes, conducting support...
Implanting radioactive seeds (brachytherapy) into the prostate is considered as effective as surgery for men with early stage prostate cancer. Five years after treatment, men who received brachytherapy were as likely to be as disease-free as similar patients who have undergone a radical...
The term intravenous (IV) sedation is used to describe the type of anesthesia resulting in the loss of protective reflexes of the patient, but not in unconciousness as with general anesthesia. The purpose of IV sedation is to relax, not to completely anesthetize a patient.
The indications for amputation of part or all of an extremity include: trauma that is beyond repair; tumor of the bone, soft tissue, muscles, blood vessels, or nerves; extensive infection that does not respond to treatment or contributes to septicemia; and a variety of vascular diseases....
Physicians are now able to open an airway in the trachea by controlled percutaneous introduction of tracheostomy tubes. Elective percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) is the gradual dilation of the tracheal entrance site made by sequentially sized dilators being placed over a wire guide,...
