Surgical

Rules for handling tissue in surgery, set out by the surgeon William Halsted, such as gentle handling, control of bleeding and closing dead space.

A gesture a surgeon makes to ask the scrub for an instrument without speaking, such as for a knife, scissors, a suture, forceps or a clamp.

A retractor that a member of the team holds in place to pull tissue aside, as opposed to a self-retaining retractor that holds itself open.

Open entry into the abdomen for laparoscopy: a small cut down through each layer, then a blunt cannula placed under direct view.

A light worn on the surgeon's head that sends a small, intense beam into a deep or narrow space the ceiling lights cannot reach.

Surgery for achalasia that cuts the muscle of the lower esophageal sphincter and upper stomach, leaving the lining intact, so food can pass.

A collection of blood, often clotted, that has leaked out of the blood vessels into the tissue.

Surgery that removes the right or the left side of the colon.

A large loss of blood from a blood vessel, inside the body or out of it.

Surgery to remove swollen or prolapsed hemorrhoids from the anal canal.

The stopping of bleeding, either by the body's own clotting process or by medical or surgical methods.

A clamp with finger rings and a locking ratchet used in surgery to grasp and close off bleeding vessels.

Stopping bleeding; also, a product or agent used to stop bleeding.

Blood in the pleural space, the thin space between a lung and the chest wall.

A brand of closed suction drain whose round reservoir is pressed flat to make suction that draws fluid from a wound.

A high-efficiency particulate air filter, which removes 99.97% of particles 0.3 micrometers and larger from the air passing through it.

Saline with heparin added, used on the field to flush vessels, grafts, shunts and devices so blood does not clot in them.

Surgery that removes part of the liver, such as a segment or a lobe; also called a liver resection.

Either of the two ducts, right and left, that carry bile out of the liver and join to form the common hepatic duct.

The bend of the colon under the liver, on the right side, where the ascending colon turns left to become the transverse colon.

A bulge of an organ or tissue through a weak spot in the muscle or tissue wall that normally holds it in.

Surgical repair of a hernia.

The weak area of the lower abdominal wall bounded by the rectus, the inferior epigastric vessels and the inguinal ligament; direct hernias occur here.

A hernia in which part of the stomach pushes up through the esophageal hiatus, the opening in the diaphragm for the esophagus, into the chest.

Disinfection that kills all microorganisms on an item except some bacterial spores.

A dent on the surface of an organ where its vessels, nerves and ducts go in and out.

The joint where the two halves of a surgical instrument cross and pivot, such as the box lock of a clamp or the screw joint of scissors.

A break in the upper part of the thigh bone, near the hip joint.

The record of a patient's health history and physical examination, written by a provider before surgery and other care; abbreviated H&P.

An item on a preference card that is kept in the room unopened, and opened only if the case needs it.

The area near the operating rooms where patients wait just before surgery and are checked and prepared before they go into the OR.

A solid-crystal infrared laser, delivered by fiber, best known for breaking up kidney, ureter and bile duct stones.

The smooth, rounded top end of the humerus, which fits into the shallow glenoid socket of the shoulder blade to form the shoulder joint.

An enzyme mixed with a local anesthetic, mainly for eye blocks, that breaks down the gel between cells so the drug spreads farther and faster.

A collection of clear fluid in a sac, most often in the tunica vaginalis around a testis, which makes the scrotum swell.

A self-adhesive dressing wafer containing gel-forming agents that absorb a little drainage and keep a wound moist.

A low-temperature sterilization method that fills a vacuum chamber with hydrogen peroxide vapor and turns it into a plasma that kills microbes.

The breaking of a chemical bond by reaction with water, as when synthetic absorbable suture breaks down in the tissues.

A hollow needle with a beveled point and a hub that fits a syringe, used to inject drugs or draw up fluid.

Surgery to remove the pituitary gland or a tumor of it, most often through the nose and the sphenoid sinus.

A body temperature that has fallen below the normal range.

A machine that pumps warmed or cooled water through a pad, blanket or mattress under the patient to raise, lower or hold body temperature.

Surgery to remove the uterus.