Medical science has developed many procedures to stabilize the spinal column in the lower back and fuse vertebrae. These techniques range from the simplest, lumbar fusion, to the more complex, the use of instrumentation in pedicle screw fixation and Harrington rod placement. Currently, there is...
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.
Vascular ultrasound is a noninvasive procedure used to diagnose and locate disorders of the vascular system. Widespread practical application of ultrasonography began in the 1960s. Neurosonography; echocardiography; obstetrical, gynecological, and ophthalmologic ultrasound are additional...
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....
Discography is an invasive radiographic technique that uses the injection of contrast media to visualize intervertebral disk space. Developed in Sweden in 1948, it soon became widely used to diagnose such diseases or conditions as lumbar degenerative disease, disc herniation, disc protrusion,...
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is a complex, expensive, and life-saving therapy used to meet the nutritional needs of patients with a variety of diseases and medical conditions. TPN may be used when a patient has a nonfunctional or inaccessible intestine, or cannot take food by mouth or...
During endoscopic carpal tunnel release, physicians insert an optical device through a small incision into the carpal tunnel of the wrist in order to release pressure of the median nerve, which passes through this canal into the wrist.
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,...
