Procedures and skills

A padded strap across the patient's thighs that keeps the patient from falling off the OR table or stretcher.

A solution of salt (sodium chloride) in water, used for IV fluids, flushes, wound cleaning and other care.

Surgical removal of a fallopian tube and its ovary, on one side or on both.

A piece of silicone sewn onto the sclera over a retinal tear, pushing the eye wall in against the detached retina.

Healing of a wound left open, which fills in slowly from its base with granulation tissue, contracts and leaves a wider scar.

A substance a gland or cell makes and releases, such as mucus, saliva, sweat or a hormone.

A calm, relaxed or sleepy state brought on by drugs, or the use of drugs to cause it.

Safety steps set up for a client at risk of seizures, to prevent injury if one happens.

A position in which the client lies on the back with the head of the bed raised about 30 to 45 degrees.

An operation that straightens a deviated nasal septum so air flows freely through both sides of the nose.

Inflatable leg sleeves that fill with air and squeeze the legs in turns to keep blood moving in the veins.

Wrapping an item for sterilization in two separate wraps, one after the other, so it is a package inside a package.

Describes drainage that is thin and watery with a little blood in it, so it looks pale pink.

Thin, watery and clear to pale yellow, like the fluid part of blood.

A force that pulls the skin out of place when the skin is held still while the body under it slides.

A covering that wraps around a structure; in procedures, a short hollow tube left in a blood vessel to pass catheters through.

A passage that moves blood or other fluid from one place to another, either made by a surgeon or present in the body.

A join made between openings cut in the sides of two tubular structures laid parallel, such as two loops of bowel, so contents pass from one to the other.

A rigid or flexible scope passed through the anus to examine the rectum and sigmoid colon.

An examination of the inside of the rectum and the sigmoid colon with a lighted scope passed through the anus.

A quick method, called START, for sorting adult victims in a mass-casualty event by how urgently they need care.

A side-lying position on the left side with the upper leg bent and the lower arm behind the body.

Wrapping an item for sterilization once in a double-layer sheet whose two layers are bonded at the edges.

A liquid glue, usually a cyanoacrylate, painted over skin edges held together to close a wound without sutures.

Damage that opens or wears away the skin, such as a pressure injury, skin tear or damage from moisture.

Skin taken from one place and moved to cover a wound elsewhere, where it picks up a new blood supply from the wound bed.

Cleaning the skin over and around the surgical site with an antiseptic just before draping, to bring its germs down to the fewest possible.

A handheld, usually disposable device that closes the skin by placing one metal staple across the incision edges with each squeeze.

How quickly a gently pinched fold of skin goes back to its normal position.

Soft, moist dead tissue in a wound, usually yellow, tan, gray or green, that may be stringy or stuck to the wound bed.

An eye chart with rows of letters that get smaller, used to test how clearly a person sees at a distance.

A sample of blood, urine, stool, tissue or other body material collected for testing.

An instrument used to open and hold open a body opening, such as the vagina, so the inside can be seen.

A device for measuring blood pressure: an inflatable cuff with a pump or motor and a gauge, manual or electronic.

Regional anesthesia in which local anesthetic is injected into the spinal fluid low in the back, numbing the lower body.

Surgery that joins two or more vertebrae into one solid piece of bone, so that part of the spine no longer moves.

A device that measures how much air a person breathes in or out, and how fast.

Surgery to remove the spleen.

A firm support strapped to a body part to keep it still and protected.

A way of wrapping a large pack or tray for sterilization with the item set square to the wrap's edges and each edge folded over in turn.

Removal of the stapes, the innermost bone of the middle ear, and its replacement with a prosthesis to restore hearing.

A small metal clip used to close a skin wound or join tissues during surgery.

A small tube, often of metal mesh, placed inside a vessel or duct to hold it open.

Free of all living microorganisms; also, unable to have children.

Replacing a dressing on a wound or line site using sterile technique and sterile supplies.

A glove that has been sterilized and packed so it can touch a sterile field or an open body area without bringing in germs.

A process that destroys all microorganisms, including spores, on an item; also a permanent birth control procedure.

A tool used to listen to sounds inside the body, such as the heart, lungs and bowel.

Leg holders attached to the OR table that lift and spread the patient's legs for the lithotomy position.

An everyday word for a suture: one loop of thread used to close a wound.