Thoracentesis

Thoracentesis

To remove fluid for laboratory analysis, your doctor may suggest a procedure called thoracentesis. In this procedure, your doctor first injects a local anesthetic, then inserts a needle through your chest wall between your ribs to remove fluid. In addition, a sample of tissue (pleural biopsy) for microscopic analysis may be obtained if your doctor is concerned that the fluid collection may be caused by tuberculosis or cancer. If only a small amount of fluid is present, your doctor may insert the needle with the help of ultrasound guidance over the site of the fluid.

Sepsis

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition, in which your immune system's reaction to an infection may injure body tissues far from the original infection.

As sepsis progresses, it begins to affect organ function and eventually can lead to septic shock — a sometimes fatal drop in blood pressure.

People who are most at risk of developing sepsis include:

• The very young and the very old
• Individuals with compromised immune systems
• Very sick people in the hospital
• Those who have invasive devices, such as urinary catheters or breathing tubes

Early treatment, usually with large amounts of intravenous fluids and antibiotics, improves chances for survival.

To read more about sepsis, click here.

Tracheostomy

Tracheostomy (tray-key-OS-tuh-me) is a surgically created hole through the front of your neck and into your windpipe (trachea). The term for the surgical procedure to create this opening is tracheotomy.

A tracheostomy provides an air passage to help you breathe when the usual route for breathing is somehow obstructed or impaired. A tracheostomy is often needed when health problems require long-term use of a machine (ventilator) to help you breathe. In rare cases, an emergency tracheotomy is performed when your airway is suddenly blocked, such as after a traumatic injury to your face or neck.

When a tracheostomy is no longer needed, it's allowed to heal shut or is surgically closed. For some people, a tracheostomy is permanent.

To read more about a tracheostomy, click here.

Aspirate

Aspirate

To inhale something, especially a liquid, into the lungs.

PICC Line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter)

PICC Line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter)

A peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC line, is a soft, thin, flexible tube that is inserted in a vein in your arm and threaded up into a larger vein near your heart. Ultrasound imaging may be used to help guide insertion of a PICC line. And an X-ray may be taken to verify correct placement.

To read more about a PICC Line, click here.

BTW - Mom is not receiving Chemotherapy through her PICC Line. We have not begun the discussion of her cancer treatments yet.

Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH)

Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH)

LTACH's are focused on patients with serious medical problems that require intense, special treatment for a long time (usually about 20-30 days). These patients often transfer from Intensive Care units in traditional hospitals. It would not be unusual for a LTACH patient to need ventilator or other life support medical assistance.

For more information on LTACH's click here.

Mediastinoscopy

Mediastinoscopy

During this procedure, a tube is passed through a small incision at the base of the neck while the patient is under anesthesia. This allows doctors to take a biopsy of the lymph nodes in the chest. A surgeon can then define the tumor stage and determine whether surgery is an option.

To see more procedures click here.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement and Removal

In an inferior vena cava filter placement procedure, interventional radiologists use image guidance to place a filter in the inferior vena cava(IVC), the large vein in the abdomen that returns blood from the lower body to the heart.

Blood clots that develop in the veins of the leg or pelvis, a condition called deep vein thrombosis (DVT), occasionally break up and large pieces of the clot can travel to the lungs. An IVC filter traps large clot fragments and prevents them from traveling through the vena cava vein to the heart and lungs, where they could cause severe complications or even death.

Until recently, IVC filters were available only as permanently implanted devices. Newer filters, called optionally retrievable filters, may be left in place permanently or have the option to be removed from the blood vessel later. This removal may be performed when the risk of clot travelling to the lung has passed. Removal of an IVC filter eliminates any long term risks of having the filter in place. It does not address the cause of the deep vein thrombosis or coagulation. Your referring physician will determine if blood thinners are still necessary.

To read more about it visit: http://www.radiologyinfo.org/mobile/en/info.cfm?pg=VenaCavaFilter

(ABG) Arterial blood gas analysis

(ABG) Arterial blood gas analysis

This blood test measures how well your lungs are bringing oxygen into your blood and removing carbon dioxide.

PET Scan

Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

A PET scan (positron emission tomography) is an imaging test that can help reveal how your tissues and organs are functioning. To show this chemical activity, a small amount of radioactive material must enter your body.

The precise type of radioactive material, and its delivery method, depends on which organ or tissue is being studied by the PET scan. The radioactive material may be injected into a vein, inhaled or swallowed.

More radioactive material accumulates in areas that have higher levels of chemical activity. This often corresponds to areas of disease and shows up as brighter spots on the PET scan. A PET scan is useful in evaluating a variety of conditions — including neurological problems, heart disease and cancer.

To read more about it, click here.

Bronchoscopy

Bronchoscopy

A flexible tube is passed down the nose or mouth to look inside the lungs and remove a tissue sample for examination by the pathologist.

To see more procedures click here.

Aphasia

Aphasia is a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate. Aphasia can affect your ability to express and understand language, both verbal and written. The amount of disability depends on the location and the severity of the brain damage that is the cause.

Aphasia typically occurs suddenly, after a stroke or a head injury. But it can also come on gradually, from a slowly growing brain tumor or a degenerative disease.

Once the underlying cause has been treated, the primary treatment for aphasia is speech therapy that focuses on relearning and practicing language skills and using alternative or supplementary communication methods. Family members often participate in the therapy process and function as communication partners of the person with aphasia.

Mom has aphasia. To read more about it, click here.