Medical procedures

Question 1

Atherectomy

Answer 1

• a surgical procedure similar to angioplasty except that the catheter has a rotating shaver to cut away plaque from the artery and increase blood flow

Question 2

automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

Answer 2

• an implanted device that continuously monitors the heart rhythm and delivers electrical shocks to restore a normal heart rhythm when necessary

Question 3

balloon angioplasty

Answer 3

• inserting a small balloon-tipped catheter into a stenotic artery and expanding the balloon at the site of blockage to help widen a narrowed artery
• usually combined with implantation of a small metal coil called a stent in the narrowed artery to help prop it open and decrease the chance of restenosis

Question 4

balloon valvuloplasty

Answer 4

• treats stenotic heart valves

- balloon inflates narrowed valve

Question 5

cardiac ablation

Answer 5

• uses radio frequencies or chemicals to destroy areas of the myocardium that have been identified by electrophysiolgic testing to be causing cardiac arrhythmia
• an option for patients with tachyarrhythmias that cannot be controlled by medication or who have arrhythmias that respond well to ablation, such as wolff parkinson white syndrome

Question 6

cardiac pacemaker

Answer 6

• battery powered device placed under the skin, usually in the left anterior chest wall
• by preventing a slow heart rate, pacemakers can treat fatigue, lightheadedness, and fainting

Question 7

cardioversion

Answer 7

• performed to restore a normal heart rhythm for tachyarrhythmias that do not respond to medication
• electrical shocks are delivered by a defibrillator through electrodes on the chest

Question 8

coronary artery bypass craft surgery

Answer 8

• treat coronary arteries that are narrowed or occluded in an attempt to revascularize the myocardium
• blood is rerouted around the affected artery joining the patient’s own and saphenous vein, internal thoracic/mammary artery, or radial artery to connect the affected artery above and below the occulsion

Question 9

enhanced extracorporeal counterpulsation

Answer 9

• inflation of pressure cuffs on the lower extremities compresses the veins and assists with venous return to the heart

Question 10

heart transplant

Answer 10

• a failing diseased heart is replaced with a healthier donor heart
• reserved for patients with end-stage heart failure for whom other treatments have not been successful

Question 11

intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation

Answer 11

• inflation and deflation of a balloon surgically placed in the aorta provides circulatory assistance for patients after infarction or with cardiogenic shock

Question 12

valve replacement

Answer 12

• a prosthetic valve is implanted in the heart to replace a leaky or narrowed heart valve
• prosthetic valves may be either mechanical or tissue grafts

Question 13

ventricular assist devices

Answer 13

• miniature pump that is implanted in the chest to provide mechanical support to the ventricle
• bypasses ventricles
• commonly used as a temporary treatment or people waiting for a heart transplant and increasingly as a permanent treatment for heart failure

Question 14

airway adjuncts

Answer 14

provided mechanical ventilation or promote airway clearance

Question 15

airway suctioning

Answer 15

• mechanical aspiration of secretions from the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and trachea using a suction catheter
  indications include increased or thickened secretions and inadequate cough

Question 16

bullectomy

Answer 16

• surgical procedure in which one or more of the large air spaces called bullae that form when the alveoli are destroyed by emphysema are removed

Question 17

lobectomy

Answer 17

• surgical removal of a lobe of one lung

Question 18

lung transplant

Answer 18

replace one or both diseased or failing lungs with healthy donor lungs
- reserved for end-stage COPD, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and other serious lung diseases, but who do not have serious comorbidities

Question 19

lung volume reduction surgery

Answer 19

a portion of the lung tissue damaged by emphysema is removed

Question 20

mechanical ventilation

Answer 20

• for patients who need assistance to breathe from a positive pressure mechanical ventilator or breathing machine
• the positive pressure from the ventilator provides the force that delivers air into the lungs by increasing intrathoracic pressure

Question 21

oxygen therapy

Answer 21

• indicated for the treatment of acute and chronic hypoxemia in patients with PaO2 <55 or an oxygen saturation <88% while seated at rest, or a PaO2 of 56-59 or oxygen saturation of <89% in the presence of cor pulmonale or polycythemia

Question 22

throacotomy

Answer 22

• a surgical incision cutting the chest wall to access the heart, great vessels, lungs, esophagus, and diaphragm for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes

Question 23

tracheostomy

Answer 23

• a surgically created hole through the neck into the trachea below the level of the vocal cords
• airway obstruction at or above the level of the larynx and respiratory failure requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation