| closed fracture | A fracture in which skin is intact at site of fracture. Synonym: simple fracture. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| closed head injury | A head injury in which continuity of the scalp and mucous membranes is maintained. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed hospital | A hospital that restricts membership on its attending or consulting staff, and thereby limits who may admit and treat patients. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed-loop obstruction | Obstruction of a segment of intestine by rotation on a fixed point (volvulus); frequently impairs venous circulation of the affected bowel segment, resulting in strangulation and gangrene; the segment of intestine contained in a hernia can also become a closed-loop obstruction when sufficient compression occurs at the neck of the sac. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed reading frame | A sequence of DNA that cannot be translated into a viable protein; usually due to the interruption by one or more termination codons. Synonym: closed reading frame. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed reduction | The physical manipulation of a joint or bone externally (without making a surgical incision) to affect a joint relocation or more proper anatomic alignment of broken bone fragments. Closed reductions are often performed using intravenous analgesics, local anaesthetic nerve blocks or regional anaesthesia. (27 Sep 1997) |
| closed reduction of fractures | Reduction by manipulation of bone, without incision in the skin. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed skull fracture | Fracture with intact overlying scalp and/or mucous membranes. Synonym: simple skull fracture. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed surgery | Surgery without incision into skin, e.g., reduction of a fracture or dislocation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closed system | <biology, ecology> A chemical or biological system that exchanges no matter or energy with the ouside environment. (12 Mar 1998) |
| covalently closed circular DNA | <molecular biology> A circular molecule of double-stranded DNA which is supercoiled, or coiled up on itself due to internal tensions, because there are no breaks in the phosphate backbone (upon which the nucleotide bases are mounted) to relieve the tensions and allow it to form an open circle. (09 Oct 1997) |
| head injuries, closed | Organic or functional damage resulting from trauma to the head where continuity of the scalp and mucous membranes is maintained. When brain injury results from closed head injuries, the primary cause is mechanical stretching and shearing of nerve fibres. Also common are focal intracranial lesions including haematomas and contusions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| semi-closed anaesthesia | Inhalation anaesthesia using a circuit in which a portion of the exhaled air is exhausted from the circuit and a portion is rebreathed following absorption of carbon dioxide. (05 Mar 2000) |
| semi-closed circle | A circuit for administration of an inhalation anaesthetic in which partial rebreathing with carbon dioxide absorption is combined with loss from the circuit of a portion of respired gases through valves. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ecological systems, closed | Systems that provide for the maintenance of life in an isolated living chamber through reutilization of the material available, in particular, by means of a cycle wherein exhaled carbon dioxide, urine, and other waste matter are converted chemically or by photosynthesis into oxygen, water, and food. (12 Dec 1998) |