Procedures and skills

Surgery that cuts open the fascia, the tough tissue around a group of muscles, to relieve pressure inside it.

A milky-white IV fluid of fats, usually from soybean, olive or fish oil, given as part of nutrition by vein.

The large artery that carries blood to the leg, running through the groin and down the thigh.

An operation that carries blood around a blocked femoral artery through a graft from the femoral artery in the groin to the popliteal artery at the knee.

The number of times the unborn baby's heart beats per minute.

Checking a fetus's heart rate during pregnancy or labor, with a handheld device or a continuous electronic monitor.

The small, irregular ups and downs of the baby's baseline heart rate seen on a fetal monitor tracing.

A device that records the fetal heart rate and the mother's contractions during pregnancy and labor.

How far the presenting part of the fetus has moved down the birth canal, measured against the ischial spines of the pelvis.

The width of one finger, about 1 to 2 centimeters, used as a quick bedside measure.

The end of a finger.

Healing of a clean wound whose edges are brought together soon after it is made, as with sutures or staples, leaving a thin, flat scar.

A pain scale based on watching a child's Face, Legs, Activity, Cry and Consolability, each scored 0 to 2.

The match between the fluid that goes into the body and the fluid that leaves it.

Giving large amounts of IV fluid quickly to restore blood volume and blood flow to the organs.

To push a small amount of fluid, usually saline, through an IV line or tube to clear it; as a noun, also a sudden reddening of the skin.

Warming a patient with a machine that blows warm air through a hose into a paper and plastic blanket laid over or under them.

A hand instrument with two blades or arms used to grasp, hold or pull tissue or objects.

A sitting-up position in bed, with the head of the bed raised between 45 and 90 degrees.

A pre-cut strand of suture with no needle, placed in the surgeon's hand to tie around a clamped vessel or other structure.

The scale that sizes catheters, tubes and dilators by their outside diameter, each unit (1 Fr) about one third of a millimeter.

The rubbing of one surface against another, such as skin against bed sheets.

Coagulating the surface of tissue with sparks of high-voltage electrosurgical current from a tip held just above it.

The distance in centimeters from the top of the pubic bone to the top of the uterus, measured during pregnancy.

An antireflux operation that wraps the top of the stomach (the fundus) around the lower esophagus so it acts as a new valve.