| palliative | 1. Affording relief, but not cure. 2. An alleviating medicine. Origin: L. Palliatus = cloaked (18 Nov 1997) |
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| palliative care | Treatment aimed at relieving symptoms and pain rather than effecting a cure. (13 Nov 1997) |
| palliative care physician | <specialist> A medically qualified specialist in the care of people with incurable disease where the focus is on symptom control and the enhancement of quality of life. (13 Nov 1997) |
| palliative therapy | <procedure> A procedure such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery that is performed to relieve or ease pain or other symptoms. (16 Dec 1997) |
| palliative treatment | <oncology> Treatment to relieve symptoms of the disease but not to cure it. Frequently takes the form of making the patient more comfortable through pain management. (16 Dec 1997) |
| ambulatory surgery | <surgery> Operative procedures performed on patients who are admitted to and discharged from a hospital on the same day. (05 Mar 2000) |
| aseptic surgery | The performance of an operation with sterilised hands, instruments, etc., and utilizing precautions against the introduction of infectious microorganisms from without. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiovascular surgery | The use of surgery to fix disorders of the heartand/or blood vessels. (09 Oct 1997) |
| radical surgery | Surgery designed to remove all possible diseased tissue, for example, all possible tumour tissue. (12 Dec 1998) |
| major surgery | See: major operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vascular surgery | A branch of medicine dealing with the use of surgery to diagnose/treat diseases of the blood vessels. (09 Oct 1997) |
| general surgery | A surgical specialty that involves largely the surgical management of diseases of the bowel, gallbladder, stomach and other digestive organs. (27 Sep 1997) |
| reconstructive surgery | The surgical specialty or procedure concerned with the restoration, construction, reconstruction, or improvement in the shape and appearance of body structures that are missing, defective, damaged, or misshapen. (05 Mar 2000) |
| video-assisted thoracic surgery | A less morbid alternative to "open" thoracotomy that employs cameras, optic systems, percutaneous stapling devices, and assorted endoscopic graspers, retractors, and forceps. Also called video thoracoscopic surgery, it can be selectively applied to various pulmonary, pleural, and pericardial lesions. (05 Mar 2000) |
| perineal surgery | An operation to remove the prostate gland through an incision made between the scrotum and the anus. (12 Dec 1998) |