Term | Definition |
Cryosurgery | The therapeutic use of freezing temperatures to destroy abnormal tissue. |
Exudate | A discharge produced by the body's tissue. |
Fibroblast | An immature cell from which connective tissue can develop. |
Forceps | A two-pronged instrument for grasping and squeezing. |
Furuncle | A localized staphylococcal infection that originates deep within a hair follicle. Also known as boil. |
Hemostasis | The arrest of bleeding by natural or artificial means. |
Incision | A clean cut caused by a cutting instrument. |
Infection | The condition in which the body, or part of it, is invaded by a pathogen. |
Infiltration | The process by which a substance passes into and is deposited within the substance of a cell, tissue, or organ. |
Inflammation | A protective response of the body to trauma and the entrance of foreign matter. |
Laceration | A wound in which the tissues are torn apart, leaving ragged and irregular edges. |
Ligate | To tie off and close a structure such as severed blood vessel. |
Local anesthetic | A drug that produces a loss of feeling and an inability to perceive pain in only a specific part of the body. |
Mayo tray | A broad, flat metal tray placed on a stand and used to hold sterile instruments and supplies when it has been covered with a sterile towel. |
Needle biopsy | A type of biopsy in which tissue from deep within the body is obtained by the insertion of a body needle through the skin. |
Nonabsorbable suture | Suture material that is not absorbed by the body and either remains permanently in the body tissue and becomes encapsulated by the fibrous tissue or is removed. |
Postoperative | After a surgical operation. |
Preoperative | Preceding a surgical operation. |
Puncture | A wound made by a sharp-pointed object piercing the skin. |
Scapel | A surgical knife used to divide tissues |
Scissors | A cutting instrument. |
Sebaceous cyst | A thin,closed sac or capsule that contains fatty secretions from a sebaceous gland. |
Serum | The clear, straw-colored part of the blood that remains after the solid elements have been separated out of it. |
Sterile | Free of all living microorganisms and bacterial spores. |
Surgery | The branch of medicine that deals with operative and manual procedures for correction of deformities and defects, repair of injuries, and diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. |
Surgical asepsis | Practices that keep objects and areas sterile or free from microorganisms. |
Sutures | Material used to approximate tissues with surgical stitches. |
Swaged needle | A needle with suturing material permanently attached to its end. |
Wound | A break in the continuity of an external or internal surface caused by physical means. |
Abrasion | A wound in which the outer layers of the skin are damaged; a scrape. |
Abscess | A collection of pus in a cavity surrounded by inflamed tissue. |
Absorbable suture | Suture material that is gradually digested and absorbed by the body. |
Approximation | The process of bringing two parts, such as tissue, together through the use of sutures or other means. |
Bandage | A strip of woven material used to wrap or cover a part of the body. |
Biopsy | The surgical removal and examination of tissue from the living body. |
Capillary action | The action that causes liquid to rise along a wick, a tube, or a gauze dressing. |
Colposcope | A lighted instrument with a binocular magnifying lens used to examine the vagina and cervix. |
Colposcopy | The visual examination of the vagina and cervix using a colposcope. |
Contaminate | As it relates to sterile technique, to cause a sterile object or surface to become unsterile. |
Contusion | An injury to the tissues under the skin that causes blood vessels to rupture, allowing blood to seep into the tissues; a bruise. |