Ablation:
The use of heat to lesion or destroy some tissue.
Absorbable
suture: Suture material that can be placed below
the skin that the body will absorb by itself over time.
Acupressure:
The use of focused pressure points to relieve pain and tension
in the body.
Acupuncture:
The placement of needles in locations over the body's surface
to manipulate the body's pain system.
Allergic:
A reaction by the body to foreign material, that may cause
various levels of body abnormality.
Allograft:
A graft material such as bone taken from another individual
in the same species.
Allowable
charge: The amount of money an insurance company
prefers to pay its contracted providers for a given procedure.
Analgesic:
A medication that relieves pain without producing numbness.
Anaphylactic:
Severe allergic reaction, that may be life threatening
Anesthetic:
1. General: Medication that tends to produce deep, painless
sleep.
2. Local: Medication that reduces sensation as well as pain.
Anesthetic
discogram: An injection intended to temporarily block
the pain, originating from the annulus of a disc.
Aneurysm:
An enlargement in a blood vessel, that may expand and rupture.
Angiogram:
A type of radiologic study for viewing blood vessels, that
can include either an injection of intravenous contrast or
that may be
conducted with out an injection by MRI scanning based on the
physical properties of blood flow (MR Angiogram).
Ankylosing
spondylitis: An auto-immune condition, that can lead
to progressive natural fusions of the vertebral bodies and
forward angulation of the neck.
Anneal:
To fuse together, typically applied to a heat- based process
and then the spine attempts to repair the annular ligament
Annular
tear: A disruption or tear in the annular ring or
the annulus fibrosis around the disc space.
Annulus
fibrosis: A complex ring of dense fibers that surrounds
the nucleus pulpous of a spinal disc.
Anterior:
Towards the front of the body.
Anterior
scalene muscle: A muscle running from the lateral
processes of the cevical vertebrae to the first rib, that
may be injured in a whiplash syndrome and that can compress
the nerves of the arm in the brachial plexus.
AP
or Anterior-Posterior X-ray: An X-ray in which the
beam is sent from the front of the body to the back, that
produces an image as if the body is viewed from the front.
Anti-convulsants:
Medications to prevent seizures.
Anti-emetics:
Medications to prevent nausea or vomiting.
Anti-inflammatory:
Medication to reduce inflammation or imitation in a tissue.
Anti-scarring
agents: Medications or implants intended to prevent
undesired adhesions and for formation of fibrous tissue or
scar - also "adhesiolytic".
Aorta:
The largest arterial blood vessel in the body, beginning in
the heart and then descending into the low lumbar area.
Aquatherapy:
Physical therapy or exercise therapy carried out in a pool
of water.
Arachnoid:
Thin membrane inside the spinal dura but outside the spinal
fluid as well as small amounts of fibrous tissue within the
spinal fluid space.
Arbitration
agreement: Agreement between a patient and a physician
to settle disputes by arbitration rather than standard litigation.
Arnold-Chiari
malformations: Congenital abnormality at the base
of the skull and the posterior parts of the brain, that come
in type 1 type 2 and type 3; with type 1 being mild, causing
headache; type 2 causing signinficant abnormalities; and type
3 being in many cases, fatal near the time of birth.
Arthritis:
Inflammation affecting the joints.
Arthropathy:
any degenerative abnormality affecting the joints.
Arthroplasty:
Replacement of a joint by an artificial material.
Aritcular
Processes: A part of the vertebra, that extends from
the lamina and supports a surface of a fecet joint.
Assignment
of benefits: An agreement by a patient to allow any
insurance payments for medical care to be paid directly to
the doctor rather than to the patient
Atelectasis:
Collapse of portions of the lung, that can take place during
routine anesthesia.
Autograft:
An graft or implant or tissue taken from the patient's own
body.
Autologus:
Blood transfusion using the patient's own blood.
Autonomic
nervous systems: A set of nerves in the body that
control sweating, skin temperature and functions in the gastrointestinal
system.
Axis
vertebra: The C2 vertebra.
Axonal
transport: A natural process whereby chemicals and
proteins are moved along the length of a nerve.
Axons:
Elongated portion of a nerve cell that projects form the cell
body out toward to the endpoint such as on muscle.
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