Surgical

A tube or patch, synthetic or biologic, sewn in to replace a section of blood vessel, carry blood around a blockage, patch a vessel or make dialysis access.

An intermediate-acting nondepolarizing muscle relaxant given by vein for intubation and to keep the muscles relaxed during surgery.

A hollow, sharp needle with a blunt, spring-loaded stylet inside, used to enter the abdomen and fill it with gas for laparoscopy.

A thin, stretchy silicone strip looped around a vessel, nerve or duct to lift it, hold it aside or briefly block a vessel.

A bipolar instrument that uses current and jaw pressure to fuse the walls of a vessel into a permanent seal; LigaSure is one brand.

Able to kill viruses, or inactivate them so they can no longer infect.

The inner layer of the pleura, a thin membrane that covers the surface of each lung and dips into its fissures.

A clear, thick gel, such as sodium hyaluronate, injected into the eye during surgery to hold space open and protect the tissues.

The nonsterile tower of a surgical robot that holds the light source, camera controls, video processing and energy units.

Surgical removal of all or part of the vitreous humor, the clear jelly that fills the back of the eye.

The clear jelly that fills the back of the eyeball, behind the lens, and holds the eye in shape.

The two folds of tissue inside the larynx that vibrate to make the voice; the true vocal cords, or vocal folds.

An inhaled general anesthetic that is a liquid at room temperature and is turned into vapor by a vaporizer on the anesthesia machine.

The force or pressure that pushes electric current through a circuit, measured in volts.

An initial surgical count that is skipped because the patient's life cannot wait for it, as in a major emergency.

A heated cabinet, usually in the substerile room, that keeps IV and irrigation fluids, and in some ORs blankets, warm until use.

A machine that cleans instruments with jets of water and detergent, then disinfects them with a hot water rinse.

A sterilized package with dampness, droplets or puddles on or in it after the cycle; it is treated as contaminated.

Moist gauze packed into a wound and left to dry, so that dead tissue comes away with it when it is pulled off.

A pancreaticoduodenectomy: removal of the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, the gallbladder and the lower bile duct, for cancer.

Setting an endoscopic camera to what white looks like through its scope and light cord, so every other color shows true on the monitor.

The CDC's four classes of surgical wound, from I (clean) to IV (dirty or infected), set by how contaminated the wound became and so its infection risk.

Bringing the edges of a wound together, layer by layer, with suture, staples, adhesive strips or skin glue so it can heal.

A synthetic vascular graft of tightly woven polyester (Dacron) fabric, strong and low-leaking, used mainly to replace large arteries such as the aorta.

Surgery or another invasive procedure done at the wrong place on the body, including on the wrong side.

A flat, light-tight holder for an x-ray film or imaging plate, placed under or beside the patient to catch an x-ray image.

Tissue taken from an animal of another species and placed in a human, such as pig skin or a pig heart valve.

A rigid, slightly angled suction tip with a rounded end and a large opening, the most used suction tip in the OR.