Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Half pack

    A wet-sheet pack extending from the axillae to below the knees.  

  • Full pack

    Any pack that enwraps the entire body.  

  • Dry pack

    A procedure that is used in combination with a hot bath to induce perspiration. When leaving the hot bath, the patient is placed in a dry warm sheet and wrapped in several warm blankets.  

  • Pacing code

    A code of three to five letters used for describing pacemaker type and function. The first letter indicates the chamber or chambers paced: V for ventricle, A for atrium, or D for dual, i.e., for pacing of both chambers. The second letter, which may also be V, A, or D, indicates the chamber from which…

  • Transcutaneous pacing

    The application of an electrical current between electrodes placed on the skin to stimulate the heart to beat. Typically, the electrodes are placed on the anterior and posterior chest, or to the right of the sternum and below the clavicle and on the midaxillary line at the level of the sixth to seventh ribs. Also…

  • Synchronous pacing

    Cardiac pacing set at a rate matching the underlying rate of one of the heart chambers.  

  • Overdrive pacing

    Using a pacemaker to generate a heart rate that is faster than the spontaneous heart rate of the patient. This is used in attempts to capture and terminate tachycardias or, in some cases, to try to trigger and study tachycardias in patients who have suffered them in the past.  

  • Epicardial pacing

    Electrical pacing of the heart by conductive leads inserted surgically, usually during bypass graft or valvular operations. The leads are used in the postoperative period for the management of heart blocks or dysrhythmias and are removed as the patient stabilizes.  

  • Pachyvaginitis

    Chronic inflammation of the vagina with thickening of the vaginal walls. Inflammation that leads to the thickening of the vaginal wall.  

  • Pachyvaginalitis

    Inflammation of the tunica vaginalis of the testes.