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Dilation and curettage (D&C) is a procedure to remove tissue from inside your uterus. Doctors perform dilation and curettage to diagnose and treat certain uterine conditions — such as heavy bleeding — or to clear the uterine lining after a miscarriage or abortion.
Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose and determine the severity of or treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological disorders and other abnormalities within the body.
Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a syndrome caused by inadequate blood flow through the mesenteric vessels, resulting in ischemia and eventual gangrene of the bowel wall. Although relatively rare, it is a potentially life-threatening condition. Broadly, AMI may be classified as either arterial or venous. AMI as arterial disease may be subdivided into nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) and occlusive mesenteric arterial ischemia (OMAI); OMAI may be further subdivided into acute mesenteric arterial embolism (AMAE) and acute mesenteric arterial thrombosis (AMAT). AMI as venous disease takes the form of mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT).
An untreated hepatic abscess is nearly uniformly fatal as a result of complications that include sepsis, empyema, or peritonitis from rupture into the pleural or peritoneal spaces, and retroperitoneal extension. Treatment should include drainage, either percutaneous or surgical. Antibiotic therapy as a sole treatment modality is not routinely advocated, though it has been successful in a few reported cases. It may be the only alternative in patients too ill to undergo invasive procedures or in those with multiple abscesses not amenable to percutaneous or surgical drainage. In these instances, patients are likely to require many months of antimicrobial therapy with serial imaging and close monitoring for associated complications.
About Us Contact Disclaimer Get Published! Follow Us Epomedicine Medical Students Clinical Discussion Cases Emergencies Blog Medical Mnemonics Clinical Skills Search Subjects Clinical examination Gastrointestinal system Internal medicine Updated on January 31, 2017 Percussion of Spleen Traube’s semilunar space Borders: Superiorly: Left 6th rib superiorly Laterally: Left midaxillary line or Left anterior axillary line Inferiorly: Left costal margin Method: Patient’s position: supine with left arm slightly abducted. Percuss: from medial to lateral Interpretation: Resonance (Normal) and Dullness (Splenomegaly) Also: Pleural effusion or mass in stomach may cause dullness in Traube’s space.
Claudication, which is defined as reproducible ischemic muscle pain, is one of the most common manifestations of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) caused by atherosclerosis. Claudication occurs during physical activity and is relieved after a short rest. Pain develops because of inadequate blood flow. Examination of a patient with claudication should include a complete lower-extremity evaluation and pulse examination, including measuring segmental pressures. Attempt to palpate pulses from the abdominal aorta to the foot, with auscultation for bruits in the abdominal and pelvic regions. When palpable pulses are not present, a handheld Doppler device may be used to assess circulation.
For the first few days after giving birth, a new mother’s breasts remain soft. They will produce colostrum. Colostrum, the first milk, is available in just the right amount, and is rich in immune factors that protect newborns. Sometime during the next few days, the breasts will become full, firm, warm, and perhaps tender. When this occurs, people say: “the milk is coming in!” The scientific term for this event is: engorgement. Engorgement is normal, and lasts for various periods of time depending on the individual woman. Some women experience only a day or so of mild, easy-to-manage engorgement. For other women, engorgement may be more intense, and can last from several days to two weeks.
Thyroid nodules increase with age and are present in almost 10% of the adult population. Autopsy studies reveal the presence of thyroid nodules in 50% of the population, so they are fairly common. 95% of solitary thyroid nodules are benign, and therefore, only 5% of thyroid nodules are malignant.
A parasitic twin (also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin) is the result of the processes that produce vanishing twins and conjoined twins, and may represent a continuum between the two. Parasitic twins occur when a twin embryo begins developing in utero, but the pair does not fully separate, and one embryo maintains dominant development at the expense of the other. Unlike conjoined twins, one ceases development during gestation and is vestigial to a mostly fully-formed, otherwise healthy individual twin. The undeveloped twin is defined as parasitic, rather than conjoined, because it is incompletely formed or wholly dependent on the body functions of the complete fetus. The independent twin is called the autosite.
Ultrasound or ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves and their echoes. The technique is similar to the echolocation used by bats, whales and dolphins, as well as SONAR used by submarines. In ultrasound, the following events happen: The ultrasound machine transmits high-frequency (1 to 5 megahertz) sound pulses into your body using a probe. The sound waves travel into your body and hit a boundary between tissues (e.g. between fluid and soft tissue, soft tissue and bone). Some of the sound waves get reflected back to the probe, while some travel on further until they reach another boundary and get reflected. The reflected waves are picked up by the probe and relayed to the machine. The machine calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or organ (boundaries) using the speed of sound in tissue (5,005 ft/s or1,540 m/s) and the time of the each echo's return (usually on the order of millionths of a second). The machine displays the distances and intensities of the echoes on the screen, forming a two dimensional image like the one shown below.
If your ear is leaking pus, you may have a hole in your eardrum.Your eardrum is stretched across the inner end of your ear canal. It vibrates when sound waves reach it, so you can hear. A hole in your eardrum can be caused by an ear infection. Fluid builds up behind the eardrum. The pressure of the fluid can tear the eardrum. Some people get a hole in the eardrum for other reasons, like hearing a very loud noise. If this happens, the ear may get infected because germs (bacteria) get through the hole. Ear infections happen to adults and children, but they're more common in children. Some things can make you more likely to get an ear infection with discharge. They include getting lots of colds and coughs, living in overcrowded housing, and eating a poor-quality diet
A spermatocele (SPUR-muh-toe-seel) is an abnormal sac (cyst) that develops in the epididymis — the small, coiled tube located on the upper testicle that collects and transports sperm. Noncancerous and generally painless, a spermatocele usually is filled with milky or clear fluid that might contain sperm. The exact cause of spermatoceles is unknown but might be due to a blockage in one of the tubes that transports sperm. Spermatoceles, sometimes called spermatic cysts, are common. They typically don't reduce fertility or require treatment. If a spermatocele grows large enough to cause discomfort, your doctor might suggest surgery.
This is a surgery showing the removal of a large exostosis. Exostoses are bony growths in the ear canal from chronic exposure to cold water/air, most commonly from surfing. This patient had growths in both ears, which were completely obstructing the ear canals. This patient had a single exostosis that was blocking this side (the right side).