Category: P

A form of treatment in which deliberate exposure to a photosensitizing drug and ultraviolet light benefits certain skin diseases, particularly psoriasis and T-cell lymphoma. A psoralen is the photoactive agent which reacts with longwave ultraviolet light (UVA), giving the acronym, PUVA therapy. The use of light and chemicals together to treat certain conditions, such as…

A powerful analgesic which can be given under the tongue if nausea and vomiting are a problem.  

The term applied to an imaginary appearance or daydream.  

A synthetic analgesic and antispasmodic drug, which is used in the treatment of painful and spasmodic conditions in place of morphine and atropine. A prompt but short-lasting analgesic, it has less of a constipating effect than morphine but is less potent. It is used for analgesia during childbirth because it produces less respiratory depression in…

Known popularly as claw-foot, this is a deformity in which the foot has an abnormally high arch and the tips of the toes are turned under. Pes cavus may be present at birth or it can be caused by disruption of or damage to the blood and nerve supplies to the foot muscles. The use…

A method of blood transfusion using a patient’s own blood, salvaged during a surgical operation instead of conventional transfusion using banked blood from another person.  

A technique for displaying the bile ducts and pancreatic ducts with radio-opaque dyes. These are introduced via a catheter inserted into the ducts through an incision in the skin. An X-ray is then taken of the area.  

Foods which have been predigested by pancreatin and thereby rendered more digestible.  

Parvoviruses (from parvus, Latin for small) are a group of viruses responsible for outbreaks of winter vomiting disease. One strain is the cause of erythema infectiosum (slapped-cheek syndrome).  

A method of recording the degree of dilatation, or opening, of the cervix (or neck) of the uterus in labour to assess how labour is progressing.