When the consultations have all been finished and the necessary tests and studies have been completed, and the date has been scheduled, there is still the matter of actually having the surgery. Patients use a myriad of analogies to describe what this experience is like for them. These have ranged from an incredulous “that’s it, the surgery is over?” to feeling like they were on
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Having Surgery – Part 1
January 9th, 2006Writing and Publishing a Textbook in Surgery
January 6th, 2006Check back soon for this upcoming article on the steps you need to take to write and publish that career-building and hopefully lucrative surgical textbook.
Surgical Technique May Reduce Need for Re-excision of Breast Cancer Site
January 6th, 2006A study published in the December, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests there may be a way for surgeons to cut the need for a patient to have a second operation at the site of their breast cancer excision or lumpectomy. A team of researchers from the University of Florida, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the University of Georgia reviewed
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New Treatment for Liver Cancer
December 30th, 2005December 28, 2005
Cancer is one of the most dreaded words for a patient to hear. It usually brings to the imagination a certain and painful death with no hope of long-term survival or a life with any quality. Although the cure for cancer is still some years away, over the last decade the medical and surgical fields have made real progress in developing treatments that can help patients live with a high quality of life for many years after they have cancer. One of these new treatments for holding liver cancer and tumors in check that has shown promise is called radiofrequency ablation.
Glossary of Surgery Words and Phrases
December 30th, 2005One of the most irritating habits of surgeons is their tendency to use medical jargon when talking to patients and their families. It is hard enough for people to figure out how serious their condition is and what is going to happen to them during surgery. Doing so while having it explained to them in a “foreign” language adds needless stress to the situation. Listed below are some commonly used words and expressions that pertain to surgery.
A line - abbreviation for arterial line, a very thin and small hollow tube that is placed in an artery. Allows second to second monitoring of blood pressure and allows nurses to draw blood for testing. Can be placed in wrist, groin or ankle.
ABD - abbreviation for army battle dressing. These bandages are often seen in documentary footage of injured soldiers as the white fluffy bandages taped onto head wounds.
ABG – abbreviation for arterial blood gas, a small sample of blood removed from an artery and analyzed in the lab. Provides information on the amount of oxygen in the blood and how well the lungs and kidneys are working.
ACS – abbreviation for American College of Surgeons, a professional group requiring board-certification and attainment of other practice parameters for entry.
adhesions – scar tissue that forms between loops of bowel after surgery performed in the abdominal cavity.
adenocarcinoma – a type of malignancy where the cancerous cell is columnar in shape.
a fib – slang for atrial fibrillation, an irregular beating of the “top” chambers of the heart or atria.
AMA – abbreviation for American Medical Association
appendectomy – surgical removal of the appendix.
atrium – one of two chambers in the heart that receives blood. The right atrium receives blood from the vena cava before pumping it to the right ventricle and the left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary arteries before pumping it to the left ventricle.
atrophy – wasting away or shrinkage of a body part or tissue.
William Stewart Halsted: Pioneering Surgeon
December 30th, 2005The most influential surgeon in American medical history is also one of the most enigmatic and tragic. His surgical innovations include the modern anesthesia record, the use of surgical gloves,and new operations for breast cancer, hernia repair, and thyroid disease. He also championed the philosophy that tissues must be handled with meticulous care during operations and large blood loss was to be avoided above all else. Halsted also implemented the structure of the modern surgical residency in the United States by requiring medical graduates who wanted to practice surgery to spend long years of service on the hospital wards acquiring ever increasing amounts of autonomy and responsibility (a startling departure from the practices of the day). But, despite the huge impact he had on the field of surgery and the honors and accolades bestowed on him, his life was largely one of loneliness and personal struggle.
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I
September 2nd, 2010
I and D – incision and drainage. Usually down with a knife or Bovie cautery to treat an abscess. Sometimes made in a cruciate (cross-like) pattern to prevent skin edges from reapproximating.
L
September 2nd, 2010Physicians and other healthcare professionals are notorious for using jargon, slang, and abbreviations in their travels around the hospital. These medicine, surgery orthopedic, psychiatry, pediatric, gynecology, and urology words can be very confusing for patients. Listed below are some of the more common ones:
Lasik – a specific surgical procedure for vision correction.
M
September 2nd, 2010
Physicians and other healthcare professionals are notorious for using jargon, slang, and abbreviations in their travels around the hospital. These medicine, surgery orthopedic, psychiatry, pediatric, gynecology, and urology words can be very confusing for patients. Listed below are some of the more common ones:
M and M – morbidity and mortality conference, usually held weekly by departments of surgery to discuss surgical complications and deaths.
MRI – magnetic resonance imaging, can be performed with or without dye.
MRSA – methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus
