Category: S

Happening without any particular outside cause. Occurring without apparent cause, as in spontaneous recovery from a disease. Arising without apparent cause or outside aid. The term is applied in medicine to certain conditions, such as pathological fractures, that arise in the absence of outside injury; also to recovery from a disease without the aid of…

Cancellous bone, light bone tissue which forms the inner core of a bone and also the ends of long bones.  

Soft and full of holes like a sponge.  

A brain disease in humans and animals in which areas of the brain slowly develop holes in their cells and begin to look like a sponge. A disease of the neurological system caused by a prion. Spongy degeneration of the brain occurs: with progressive dementia. Known examples of the disorder in humans are creutzfeldt-jakob disease…

The act of washing someone in bed, using a sponge or damp cloth. A bath in which the patient is not immersed in a tub but washed with a washcloth, sponge, or antibacterial wipes.  

Stiffness in the spine and degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs, with osteoarthritis. This condition is common in older people. Condition in which vertebral joints become fixed or stiff, causing pain and restricted mobility. A term referring to various degenerative diseases of the spine. Degeneration of the intervertebral disks in the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar…

A condition in which one of the lumbar vertebrae moves forwards over the one beneath. Forward dislocation of one vertebra over the one below it, causing pressure on spinal nerves. Degenerative condition of the spine in which one vertebra moves anteriorly due to degeneration of the intervertebral disc; often due to traumatic injury or compression…

A type of skin graft in which thin layers of skin are grafted over a wound.  

A tiny line of haemorrhaging under the nails or in the eyeball. Linear bleeding under the fingernails. Although they may result from injury, they are a useful physical sign of infective endocarditis. Blood accumulation beneath the fingernails appears as small, splinter-like streaks. While such splinter hemorrhages are commonly the result of physical injury, they can…

A tiny thin piece of wood or metal which gets under the skin and can be irritating and cause infection. Sharply pointed fragments that enter the skin. Most splinters can be removed with tweezers and a needle. To avoid infection, instruments must first be sterilized by cleaning them in rubbing alcohol. Deeply embedded splinters require…