Treatment aimed at preventing a condition from becoming worse, in the expectation that either natural healing will occur or progress of the disease will be so slow that no drastic treatment will be justified. Compare radical treatment.
Medical treatment which involves the minimum of active interference by the practitioner. For example, a disc lesion in the back might be treated by bed rest in contrast to surgical intervention to remove the damaged disc.
The withholding of treatments and management of disease by observation, or conversely, the use of surgery when observation only would depart from the usual care.