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a-A DC02
The arterial to alveolar difference for Co2. Also called the P(a-etCO2), normally 2-5 mmHg.
ABG
Arterial blood gas
A test which analyses arterial blood for oxygen, carbon dioxide and bicarbonate content in addition to blood pH. Used to test the effectiveness of respiration.
ACLS
The American Heart Association?s Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Acidosis
An abnormal physiologic process resulting in an increase in hydrogen ion concentration in the body; may be caused by either an excess accumulation of an acid or the loss of base.
Alveoli
Terminal air spaces that contain numerous capillaries in their septa, which serves as sites for gas exchange.
Analgesia
Insensibility to pain without loss of consciousness.
Analgesics
Agents that relieve pain without causing loss of consciousness.
Anesthesia
Loss of normal sensation or feeling. A drug used to produce anesthesia.
Anesthetic Gas
A compound (e.g. ether) that reversibly depresses nerve cell function, producing loss of ability to perceive pain and/or other sensations.
Antecubital
Relating to the inner or front surface of the forearm (the an?te?cu?bi?tal area of the right arm).
Apnea
Cessation of breathing
Asthma
A disease process that is characterised by paradoxical narrowing of the bronchi (lung passageways) making breathing difficult.
Treatment includes bronchodilators which are given orally or delivered as an aerosol (inhaled). Corticosteroids are reserved for more difficult cases.
Symptoms include wheezing, difficulty breathing (particularly exhaling air) and tightness in the chest. Factors which can exacerbate asthma include rapid changes in temperature or humidity, allergies, upper respiratory infections, exercise, stress or smoke (cigarette).
Bradycardia
A slowness of the heart beat, as evidenced by slowing of the pulse rate to less than 60 beats per minute in an adult patient and less than 70 beats per minute in pediatric patients.
Bronchodilator
A medication that acts to dilate the lumen of the airway to allow the unrestricted passage of air. These medications are commonly given to asthma patients who manifest wheezing.
Bronchospasm
An abnormal constriction of the smooth muscle of the bronchi resulting in an acute narrowing and obstruction of the respiratory airway. A cough with generalized wheezing usually indicates this condition. The most common cause of bronchospasm is asthma.
Bronchoscopy
An examination used for inspection of the interior of the tracheo-bronchial tree; taking of specimens for biopsy and culture and removal of foreign bodies
CABG (coronary artery bypass graft)
A surgical procedure, which involves replacing diseased (narrowed) coronary arteries with veins obtained from the patients lower extremities (autologous graft).
Capnogram
A continuous record of the carbon dioxide content of expired air
Capnography
Continuous measurement and graphical display of the carbon
dioxide (CO2) level of a patient?s exhaled breath.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
A life saving procedure that includes the timed compression of the anterior chest wall (to stimulate blood flow), alternating with mouth to mouth breathing (inflating another persons lungs when you exhale). Usually administered by one rescuer as 15 chest compressions to every 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths.
Cardiovascular System
The circulatory system, comprised of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels
Catheters
See catherterization
Catheterization
Use or insertion of a tubular device (catheter) into a duct, blood vessel, hollow organ, or body cavity for injecting or withdrawing fluids for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. It differs from intubation in that the tube here is used to restore or maintain patency in obstructions.
CCU
Critical Care Unit
Clinical Evaluation
Research pertaining to or founded on actual observation and treatment of patients, as distinguished from that gained by means of theoretical or basic sciences.
CHF (congestive heart failure)
A condition where the heart is not pumping effectively leading to an accumulation of fluid in the lungs. Typical symptoms include shortness of breath with exertion, difficulty breathing when lying flat and leg or ankle swelling. Causes include chronic hypertension, cardiomyopathy and myocardial infarction
CPR
see Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Colonoscopy
An endoscopic examination of the large intestine (colon)
Colorimetric
Any of various instruments used to objectively determine the amount of a substance in a solution based on a color level.
Conscious Sedation
Light sedation during which the patient retains airway reflexes and responses to verbal stimuli.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is comprised primarily of two related diseases - chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In both diseases, there is chronic obstruction of the flow of air through the airways and out of the lungs, and the obstruction generally is permanent and progressive over time.
Corticosteroids
Any of various adrenal-cortex steroids (as corticosterone, cortisone, and aldosterone) used especially as anti-inflammatory agents.
Electrophysiology
That branch of physiology that is concerned with the electric phenomena associated with living bodies and involved in their functional activity.
Endotracheal Intubation
Passage of a tube into the windpipe for maintenance of the airway during anesthesia, or in a patient with an impaired airway from any cause.
Endotracheal Tube
A flexible plastic tube introduced into the body through the mouth or the nose into the trachea to artificially respirate the lungs.
Extubation
Removal of a tube from an organ, structure, or orifice; specifically, removal of the tube after intubation
Fentanyl
A narcotic analgesic C22H28N2O with pharmacological action similar to morphine that is administered especially in the form of its citrate. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic (man-made) narcotic.. Fentanyl stimulates receptors on nerves in the brain to increase the threshold to pain (the amount of discomfort that a person must feel in order to be considered painful) and reduce the perception of pain (the perceived importance of the pain).
Hemodynamic
Relating to or functioning in the mechanics of blood circulation
Hemothorax
An effusion of blood into the cavity of the pleura
Hypercapnia
An excess of carbon dioxide in the blood
Hypocapnia
A deficiency of carbon dioxide in the blood
Hypoxemia
Below-normal oxygen content in arterial blood due to deficient oxygenation of the blood and resulting in hypoxia.
Hypoxia
Reduction of oxygen supply to tissue below physiological levels despite adequate perfusion of the tissue by blood.
Hypoperfusion
Decreased blood flow through an organ
Hypertension
Persistently high arterial blood pressure. Hypertension may have no known cause (essential or idiopathic hypertension) or be associated with other primary diseases (secondary hypertension)
Hypotension
Abnormally low blood pressure, seen in shock but not necessarily indicative of it.
Hyperventilation
A state in which there is an increased amount of air entering the pulmonary alveoli (increased alveolar ventilation), resulting in reduction of carbon dioxide tension and eventually leading to alkalosis.
Hypoventilation
A state in which there is a reduced amount of air entering the pulmonary alveoli.
ICU (intensive care unit)
Advanced and highly specialized care unit provided to medical or surgical patients whose conditions are life-threatening and require comprehensive care and constant monitoring. It is usually administered in specially equipped units of a health care facility
IMV
Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation
Intubation
The insertion of a tube into a body canal or hollow organ, as into the trachea or stomach.
Isotopic Gas
A gas containing an isotope of a chemical element; isotopes differ only in their atomic mass, but are chemically identical. CO2-Gas, for example, contains almost 100 percent of the isotope Carbon 12 (12C). For diagnostic reasons CO2 can be artificially enriched with the heavier, non-radioactive carbon isotope 13C.
Laparotomy
General term for abdominal surgery
Meconium Aspiration
Syndrome caused by sucking of thick meconium into the lungs, usually by term or post-term infants (often small for gestational age) either in utero or with first breath. The resultant small airway obstruction may produce respiratory distress, tachypnea, cyanosis, pneumothorax, and/or pneumomediastinum.
Metabolism
The sum of chemical changes whereby the function of nutrition is effected.
Midazolam
Midazolam is used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and to relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures. It is also used to produce loss of consciousness before and during surgery. Midazolam is used sometimes in patients in intensive care units in hospitals to cause unconsciousness. This may allow the patients to withstand the stress of being in the intensive care unit and help the patients cooperate when a machine must be used to assist them with breathing.
Molecular Correlation Spectroscopy™ (MCS™)
A technology developed by Oridion to detect and monitor carbon dioxide levels in various medical applications.
Myocardial
Refers to the heart's muscle mass
Nasal Cannula
A device to be inserted in the nose of a patient in order to deliver oxygen and/or collect a gas sample from the patient?s breath.
Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)
Necrotizing enterocolitis (is an inflammation causing injury to the bowel. NEC may involve only the innermost lining or the entire thickness of the bowel and variable amounts of the bowel. Necrotizing enterocolitis affects mainly premature babies.
Neonate
A newborn baby
Neuromuscular
Pertaining to muscles and nerves.
Neuromuscular Blockade
The intentional interruption of transmission at the neuromuscular junction by external agents, usually neuromuscular blocking agents. It is distinguished from nerve block in which nerve conduction is interrupted rather than neuromuscular transmission. Neuromuscular blockade is commonly used to produce muscle relaxation as an adjunct to anaesthesia during surgery and other medical procedures.
Noninvasive
Descriptive of diagnostic procedures which do not involve the insertion of needles, cannulas, or other devices that require penetration of the skin.
Occluded
To close up or block off
OEM
Acronym for original equipment manufacturer; a firm that purchases complex equipment from other manufacturers and modifies or combines different components for resale.
Outpatient
A patient who comes to a hospital, clinic or dispensary for diagnosis and/or treatment but does not occupy a bed.
Oxygenation
The process of supplying, treating or mixing with oxygen
PACU
Post Anaesthesia Care Unit
Palpation
A technique in which a doctor presses lightly on the surface of the body to feel the organs or tissues underneath
Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR)
Measurement of the maximum rate of airflow attained during a forced vital capacity determination.
Perfusion
The passage of fluid (usually blood) through out the body (organs and tissues).
Pharmacotherapy
The treatment of disease and especially mental disorder with drugs
Pneumoperitoneum
An abnormal state characterized by the presence of gas (as air) in the peritoneal cavity or
The induction of pneumoperitoneum as a therapeutic measure or as an aid to roentgenography
Pneumothorax
An abnormal state characterized by the presence of gas (as air) in the pleural cavity.
Pulmonary Artery
The short wide vessel arising from the conus arteriosus of the right ventricle and conveying unaerated blood to the lungs.
Pulmonary Embolism
The lodgment of a blood clot in the lumen of a pulmonary artery, causing a severe dysfunction in respiratory function.
Pulmonary emboli often have origin in the veins of the lower extremities where clots form in the deep leg veins and then travel to the lungs via the venous circulation.
Symptoms and features include acute onset of shortness of breath, chest pain (worse with breathing) and rapid heart rate and respiratory rate. Some individuals may have haemoptysis.
Pulse Oximetry
Determination of arterial saturation of hemoglobin; the absorption of light by blood is measured spectroscopically.
Quadriplegia
Paralysis of all four limbs, both arms and both legs, as from a high spinal cord accident or stroke
Radiograph
Another name for an X-ray
Respiration
Breathing; gas exchange, specifically the exchange by a living organism of carbon dioxide (CO2), a waste product formed during the oxidation of food molecules, for oxygen (O2), which the organism needs to continue oxidizing its food.
Roentgenography
Photography by means of X rays
Sampling Line
A tube used to deliver a gas sample from a patient to a gas monitoring device.
SIMV
Spontaneous intermittent mandatory ventilation, synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation.
Sinus tachycardia
A fast heartbeat (tachycardia) occurring because of rapid firing by the sa node, the natural pacemaker of the heart. Electrical signals initiated in the sa node are transmitted to the atria and the ventricles to stimulate heart muscle contractions heartbeats. Sinus tachycardia is usually a rapid contraction of a normal heart in response to a condition, drug, or disease as, for examples, pain, fever, excessive thyroid hormone, exertion, excitement, low blood oxygen level (hypoxia), or stimulant drugs such as caffeine, cocaine, and amphetamines. However, in some cases, it can be a sign of heart failure, heart valve disease, or other illness.
Spectrometry Equipment
Devices that measure emission or absorption of light as a function of wavelength.
Tachycardia
Relatively rapid heart action whether physiological (as after exercise) or pathological
Tachypnea
An abnormally rapid (usually shallow) respiratory rate. The normal resting adult respiratory rate is 12-20 breaths/minute.
Thoracotomy
A surgical procedure where an incision is made opening the chest cavity (wall)
Transthoracic Pacemaker
Crossing or having connections that cross the thoracic cavity (a trans?tho?rac?ic pacemaker)
Transvenous Packemaker
Artificial pacemaker delivering stimuli through the chest wall usually applied as a temporizing measure in patients with atrioventricular block
Tracheostomy
The surgical creation of an artificial airway in the trachea (windpipe) on the anterior surface of the neck
V/Q ratio
The ratio of ventilation (V) to perfusion (Q)
V/Q Mismatch
Ventilation/Perfusion mismatch - an imbalance between ventilation compared to perfusion. Extremes are shunt perfusion and dead space ventilation.
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