Every day, specialists deliver high-quality care in 68 disciplines in health centres across Canada. Yet many Canadians know very little about what many specialists actually do, and the important role these disciplines play in Canada’s health care system.

This procedure, and other types of soft palate surgery, targets the back of the roof of your mouth. It involves removing and repositioning excess tissue in the throat to make the airway wider. The surgeon can trim down your soft palate and uvula, remove your tonsils, and reposition some of the muscles of the soft palate. UPPP and other soft palate procedures are the most common type of surgery for sleep apnea. But UPPP alone is unlikely to cure moderate to severe sleep apnea. It may be combined with surgeries that target other sites in the upper airway.

A cervical herniated disc may be treated by removing part of the disc through a small incision (microdiscectomy). If this is done from the back (posteriorly) rather than from the front of the neck, a spinal fusion is not necessary. The alternative is an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedure.

Compartment syndrome can develop in the foot following crush injury or closed fracture. Following some critical threshold of bleeding and/or swelling into the fixed space compartments, arterial pulse pressure is insufficient to overcome the osmotic tissue pressure gradient, leading to cell death. The complicating factor is related to the magnitude of the force of the crush injury. The amount of swelling or bleeding has to be sufficient to impair arterial inflow, while not being of sufficient magnitude to produce an open injury, which decompresses the pressure within the affected compartments. When the injury is open, we then attribute the late disability primarily to the crushing injury to the involved muscles.

Educational video describing injection techniques for painful conditions of the foot and ankle.

Biceps tenodesis is a common procedure performed for tendinopathy of the long head of the biceps brachii (LHB). Indications include partial-thickness LHB tear, tendon subluxation with or without subscapularis tear, and failed conservative management of bicipital tenosynovitis. Biceps tenodesis may also be performed for superior labrum anterior to posterior tears.

A diagnosis of sarcoidosis is established on the basis of compatible clinical and radiologic findings and histologic evidence of the presence of noncaseous epithelioid cell granulomas in one or more organs and the absence of causative organisms or particulates (16). Granulomas of known causes and local sarcoidlike reactions must be excluded. Granulomatous lesions may result from many conditions, including tuberculosis, berylliosis, leprosy, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, Crohn disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, and fungal disease. Moreover, local sarcoidlike reactions may be seen in lymph nodes that drain a neoplasm or a site of chronic inflammation (19). Such reactions also have been seen in patients who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy (23). If biopsy of lymph nodes or pulmonary or pleural tissue is necessary for diagnosis, one of three techniques may be used: transbronchial biopsy, CT-guided biopsy, or surgical biopsy (24). The use of a surgical technique may be warranted when the results of biopsy with another procedure are not definitive and biopsy of mediastinal lymph nodes, lung, or both is required. This can generally be done with minimally invasive procedures, such as cervical mediastinoscopy, the Chamberlain procedure (a parasternal minithoracotomy for biopsy of the aortopulmonary window or para-aortic nodes), or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical biopsy (25).

Hepatitis D, also known as the delta virus, is an infection that causes the liver to become inflamed. This swelling can impair liver function and cause long-term liver problems, including liver scarring and cancer. The condition is caused by the hepatitis D virus (HDV). This virus is rare in the United States, but it’s fairly common in the following regions: South America West Africa Russia Pacific islands Central Asia the Mediterranean

The Irish Thoracic Society explain the Active Cycle of Breathing Technique for patients with acute and chronic respiratory illnesses and diseases and respiratory distress

These air sacs make up most of the lung tissue. Lung diseases affecting the alveoli include: Pneumonia: An infection of the alveoli, usually by bacteria. Tuberculosis: A slowly progressive pneumonia caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Chronic respiratory diseases are chronic diseases of the airways and other structures of the lung. Some of the most common are: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, occupational lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension.

The Irish Thoracic Society speak about the importance of Exercise with Chronic or Acute Respiratory illnesses/ Diseases and respiratory distress

Tick Twister is the best way to remove ticks.

A pulmonary embolism (PE) usually happens when a blood clot called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), often in your leg, travels to your lungs and blocks a blood vessel. That leads to low oxygen levels in your blood. It can damage the lung and other organs and cause heart failure, too. A PE can be life-threatening, so if you've been diagnosed with DVT, you should be aware of this risk. Follow the treatment plan for your DVT to stop the clot from getting bigger and to keep new clots from forming. Symptoms and Diagnosis PE won't always cause symptoms. You might have: Chest pain, which may get worse with a deep breath Sudden shortness of breath or rapid breathing Fast heartbeat Sudden cough Coughing up blood Lightheadedness or fainting Anxiety Call 911 if you notice these symptoms. They could also be symptoms of a heart attack, pneumonia, or other serious problems.

This video demonstrates the process for preparing and administering an intramuscular injection (IM)

Mitral valve regurgitation, known as leaky heart valve, can be treated with the MitraClip procedure, especially if you're not a candidate for surgery. As premier heart specialists in the Rocky Mountains, Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates physicians perform this procedure and believe it can be an essential treatment for heart health.

A leaking mitral valve allows blood to flow in two directions during the contraction. Some blood flows from the ventricle through the aortic valve – as it should – and some blood flows back into the atrium. A leaking (or regurgitant) aortic valve allows blood to flow in two directions. Oxygen-rich blood either flows out through the aorta to the body – as it should – or it flows backwards from the aorta into the left ventricle when the ventricle relaxes. Leaking valves can cause the heart to work harder to pump the same amount of blood.

Most scoliosis surgeons agree that children who have very severe curves (45-50° and higher) will need surgery to lessen the curve and prevent it from getting worse. The operation for scoliosis is a spinal fusion. The basic idea is to realign and fuse together the curved vertebrae so that they heal into a single, solid bone. With the tools and technology available today, scoliosis surgeons are able to improve curves significantly.

Sex reassignment surgery for male-to-female involves reshaping the male genitals into a form with the appearance of, and, as far as possible, the function of female genitalia. Prior to any surgeries, patients usually undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and, depending on the age at which HRT begins, facial hair removal. There are associated surgeries patients may elect to, including facial feminization surgery, breast augmentation, and various other procedures.

Arteriosclerosis occurs when the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body (arteries) become thick and stiff — sometimes restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic, but over time, the walls in your arteries can harden, a condition commonly called hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is a specific type of arteriosclerosis, but the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Atherosclerosis refers to the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on your artery walls (plaques), which can restrict blood flow. These plaques can burst, triggering a blood clot. Although atherosclerosis is often considered a heart problem, it can affect arteries anywhere in your body. Atherosclerosis may be preventable and is treatable.