Category: C

The use of a balancing opposing force during traction, when a strong continuous pull is applied to a limb so that broken bones can be kept in alignment during healing. To arrange that traction on a limb by weights and pulleys does not pull the patient out of bed, countertraction is often produced by applying…

The SI unit of electric charge, equal to the quantity of electricity transferred by 1 ampere in 1 second. A unit of electrical quantity; the quantity of electricity that flows across a surface when a steady current of 1 amp flows for 1 sec. The tiniest unit of electric current, designated in honor of the…

A form of violent exhalation by which irritant particles in the airways can be expelled. Stimulation of the cough reflexes results in the glottis being kept closed until a high expiratory pressure has built up, which is then suddenly released. The act of coughing serves as a vital mechanism to disintegrate pulmonary secretions, facilitating the…

A public health strategy employed to estimate the costs of different diagnostic or treatment approaches in controlling a disease. In screening women for cervical cancer, for example, the cost effectiveness is determined by measuring the expense of the Pap smear tests against lives saved or years of life extended by detecting the presence of cancer…

Pain localized to the ribs. This term is now rarely used. Pain in a rib or the intercostal spaces (e.g., intercostal neuralgia). Intercostal neuralgia refers to the discomfort experienced in the chest area due to injury to a rib or one of the intercostal nerves located beneath the ribs. The intercostal nerves are frequently affected…

A rare congenital condition in which there are three instead of four chambers of the heart due to the presence of a single common ventricle. ‘Cyanosis (blueness) is common. Most patients die in infancy.  

A series of radiating fibers between the cerebral cortex and the internal capsule of the brain. The ascending and descending fibers of the internal capsule of the brain that extend in all directions to the cerebral cortex above the corpus callosum. Many of the fibers arise in the thalamus.  

The conical end of the spinal cord, at the level of the lower end of the first lumbar vertebra.  

The front upper portion of the right ventricle adjoining the pulmonary arteries. The upper rounded anterior angle of the right cardiac ventricle where the pulmonary artery arises.  

A form of radiotherapy in which a radioactive substance is brought into close contact with the part of the body being heated. Needles or capsules of the isotope may be implanted in or around a tumor so that the radiation they emit will destroy it.