Health Library

The Health Library is a collection of health and wellness resources created for learning and accessibility. Select a topic below for related health information or search for a topic in the search bar for more information on other medical conditions.

Procedures

Procedures

  • Dilation and evacuation (D&E) is done in the second 12 weeks ( second trimester) of pregnancy. It usually includes a combination of vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage (D&C), and the use of surgical instruments (such as forceps). An ultrasound is done before a D&E to determine the size of the uterus and the...

  • Deciding to end a pregnancy is never easy. Every woman has a different reason for an abortion, and emotional reactions are common. After an abortion, it is normal to feel relief, sadness, grief, or guilt. These feelings can change from woman to woman. Natural hormonal changes that occur in your body during pregnancy...

  • There are two types of surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon: In open surgery, the surgeon makes a single large incision in the back of the leg. In percutaneous surgery, the surgeon makes several small incisions rather than one large incision. In both types of surgery, the surgeon sews the tendon back...

  • Guides through decision to have surgery for an Achilles tendon rupture. Describes different types of treatment and when surgery is the best option. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Guides you through decision to have allergy-shot immunotherapy to treat allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and allergic asthma. Explains how allergy shots work. Covers who should not have them. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Explains what allergy-shot immunotherapy is, why it is done, and what allergies it can help. Covers how it is done, how well it works, and what to expect after treatment. Covers risk factors.

  • Accelerated, or rush, immunotherapy is done very quickly to increase your tolerance to an allergen. There are different schedules for the shots that try to achieve a maintenance dose more quickly than standard immunotherapy. For example, a rush...

  • Allergy shots are a type of immunotherapy treatment in which small doses of substances to which you are allergic ( allergens) are injected under your skin. Over time, your body may become less responsive to the allergens, which means you may have fewer symptoms. Allergy shots are given after careful skin testing for...

  • Guides through decision to take shots for insect sting allergies. Describes different types of allergic reactions. Includes how allergy shots work. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Explains what immunotherapy is and why it is done. Lists specific allergies treated by immunotherapy. Covers how it is done, how well it works, and what to expect after treatment. Covers things that increase risk.

  • Muscle relaxants are medicines that block the nerve impulses to the muscles. They sometimes are also referred to as neuromuscular blocking agents. These medicines are often used during general anesthesia, but they do not usually affect whether you...

  • People receiving anesthesia must be carefully watched, because the medicines used for anesthesia affect the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system (airway and lungs). Anesthesia suppresses many of the body's normal...

  • As part of preparing for a medical procedure requiring anesthesia, you will have an exam to check on your health and to identify any health risks that may affect your anesthesia care. Tell your anesthesia specialist about your health history,...

  • What is anesthesia? Anesthesia is a way to control pain during a surgery or procedure by using medicine called anesthetics. It can help control your breathing, blood pressure, blood flow, and heart rate and rhythm. Anesthesia may be used to: Relax you. Block pain. Make you sleepy or forgetful...

  • Learn how ACL surgery is usually done and what to expect after surgery.

  • Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in children and teens are less common than in adults. But they do occur, especially in teens. An injury that hasn't been treated (or one in which the treatment didn't work) can lead to future knee problems....

  • Guides through decision to have knee surgery for an ACL injury. Compares surgery to rest, exercise, and rehabilitation as treatment for an ACL injury. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Surgery for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries involves reconstructing or repairing the ACL. ACL reconstruction surgery uses a graft to replace the ligament. The most common grafts are autografts using part of your own body, such as the tendon of the kneecap (patellar tendon) or one of the hamstring tendons...

  • Learn how to care for your child after an appendectomy.

  • Learn what happens during an appendectomy for children.

  • Learn what an appendectomy is and how the surgery is done.

  • Learn about appendectomy and how to care for yourself after the surgery.

  • Guides through decision to have surgery for hammer, claw, or mallet toe. Includes symptoms of hammer, claw and mallet toe and describes nonsurgical treatment. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Discusses arthroscopic surgery, used to treat joint pain for those with rheumatoid arthritis. Covers how well it works and the risks.

  • Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure that lets a doctor look inside your joints. The doctor uses a thin viewing tool called an arthroscope, or scope. It allows the doctor to see the joint surfaces and the tough tissue that covers and cushions the ends of the bones (cartilage). The doctor can also see the surrounding soft...

  • Compare the pros and cons of having surgery for spinal stenosis.

  • Compare pros and cons, including risks and benefits, of having herniated disc surgery.

  • Learn how surgery can repair a herniated disc and how long it takes to recover.

  • Learn how surgery for spinal stenosis pain is done and how long it takes to recover.

  • Jack remembers it well—and not in a good way. "I'll never forget the first time I had back pain. I couldn't move. I had to crawl to the car and push and pull myself into the seat. The drive to the doctor's was hard. The pain was unreal." When Jack got to his doctor's office, he had questions. "What can you do? Will I...

  • Asks questions that help you find out if your low back problem might be helped by surgery. Results help you talk with your doctor about back pain or other symptoms like leg pain. Helps you talk with your doctor about surgery and other treatment options.

  • Guides through decision to bank blood before having surgery. Explains how banking blood before surgery can protect from a bad reaction to a blood transfusion. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • What is blood donation? Blood donation is giving some of your blood so that it can be used to help someone else. Donated blood helps people who have lost blood in an accident or who have an illness such as cancer, anemia, sickle cell disease, or hemophilia. Donated blood includes red blood cells and the other...

  • Learn all about a blood transfusion: what it is, why it's done, what the risks are, and how to care for yourself at home.

  • Learn how to care for your IV site.

  • What is a blood transfusion? Blood transfusion is a medical treatment that replaces blood lost through injury, surgery, or disease. The blood goes through a tube from a bag to an intravenous (IV) catheter and into your vein. When is a blood transfusion needed? You may need a blood transfusion if you lose too much...

  • Guides through decision to bank blood before having surgery. Explains how banking blood before surgery can protect from a bad reaction to a blood transfusion. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • During a blood transfusion, a person (the recipient) receives healthy blood from another person (the donor). The donated blood is carefully screened for diseases before it is used. Before receiving a blood transfusion, the recipient's blood is analyzed closely (using blood type) to make sure the donor blood is a close...

  • Learn what to expect and how to care for yourself after a bone marrow transplant.

  • Find out how a bone marrow stem cell transplant replaces damaged cells with healthy ones.

  • The injection of botulinum toxin, commonly known as Botox, has become very popular for reducing wrinkles and rejuvenating the aging face. The effects are only temporary, but the injections can be done quickly, require no recovery time, and are not as complicated as many other cosmetic procedures for the face. Botulinum...

  • Botulinum toxin A is a protein produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, the same bacteria that causes botulism food poisoning. When injected into muscle in tiny amounts, botulinum A (Botox) can stop or reduce muscle spasm by blocking nerve signals to the muscle. This treatment has been used since the early 1990s...

  • Learn what to expect during bowel resection surgery.

  • Discusses surgical treatment of digestive system problems by removing diseased or damaged part of the colon (bowel resection). Includes laparoscopic surgery. Covers what to expect after surgery. Discusses risks.

  • Learn exercises to reduce stiffness and soreness and get your shoulder and arm back to normal.

  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) weakens the structure of the lung and may also damage the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lung. When these air sacs break down, larger airspaces known as bullae are formed. Bullae sometimes can become so...

  • Learn what you can do to help with throat pain and eating challenges caused by cancer treatment.

  • Get tips on how to adjust to life after finishing cancer treatment.

  • "At first, I couldn't think of anything except how scared I was to have cancer. But as soon as I started asking questions about chemotherapy and learning how to take care of myself, I felt a little less afraid. The doctors and staff were great about answering all of my questions."—Earl, 66 "When I started...

  • On rare occasions, cancer coincides with pregnancy. Because the medicines and radiation used for treating cancer can be dangerous to a fetus, a pregnant woman and her doctors must weigh a number of factors when planning her care, including: The fetus's gestational age. The type and location of the cancer...

  • Some treatments for cancer can cause infertility in both men and women. Also, cancer treatment in children may affect their future fertility. Infertility from cancer treatment may be temporary or permanent. Whether or not your cancer treatment will...

  • Home treatment may be all that is needed to treat diarrhea caused by cancer or the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Be sure to follow any instructions and take any medicines your doctor has given you to treat diarrhea. Check with your doctor before using any nonprescription medicines for your diarrhea...

  • Discusses sleep problems caused by cancer or side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Offers tips like get daily exercise and use a sleep mask and earplugs to improve sleep. Warns to check with your doctor before taking sleep medicine.

  • How you feel about your body (your body image) may change when you have cancer. It is common to feel angry, frustrated, or disappointed after cancer surgery or during treatment for cancer. And it may be hard to adjust. Changes that may affect a person's body image include: Losing a breast because of breast cancer...

  • Eating well when you have cancer means eating enough to prevent weight loss and keep your strength up. Cancer and cancer treatments can make it harder for your body to get what it needs from the food you eat. And your body needs good nutrition to...

  • A carbon dioxide (CO2) laser beam is used to: Destroy (vaporize) abnormal cervical tissue that can be seen through a magnifying viewing instrument (colposcope). Remove abnormal tissue high in the cervical canal that cannot be seen through the colposcope. The CO2 laser can be used to do a cone biopsy. To learn more...

  • What is a cardiac device? Cardiac devices include pacemakers and ICDs (implantable cardioverter-defibrillators). Cardiac devices have very advanced features. Your doctor can program your device to work in different ways depending on your needs. What is monitoring? Doctors check, or monitor, cardiac...

  • Orthopedic surgery is used to treat tight muscles and spasticity related to cerebral palsy. An incision is made in the skin over the affected muscle. Parts of the muscle are then cut to release the tightness.

  • Spinal decompression surgery reduces pressure on the spinal cord or spinal nerve roots and may reduce neck pain. To relieve the pressure, your doctor may remove: Bony growths (bone spurs or osteophytes) and fibrous tissue that are narrowing the spinal canal and pressing on spinal nerve roots. Parts of the vertebrae...

  • Hemophilia can be treated by replacing missing blood clotting factors. This is called clotting factor replacement therapy. Clotting factors are replaced by injecting (infusing) a clotting factor concentrate into a vein. Infusions of clotting factors help blood to clot normally. Clotting factor replacement therapy can...

  • Find out what cochlear implant surgery is and how to prepare for it.

  • Find out what you can do at home to care for your child after a cochlear implant.

  • What is a cochlear implant? A cochlear implant is a small electronic device that can help "make" sound if you have a certain type of severe hearing loss in both ears. The implant does the job of the damaged or absent nerve cells that in a normal ear make it possible to hear. Cochlear implants can be programmed...

  • When you test your blood sugar, you learn your blood sugar level at that time. But you can't tell what's happening to your blood sugar the rest of the time—especially overnight. A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, can do that for you. A CGM has...

  • Learn about treatment choices for sleep apnea.

  • Learn about the benefits of treating sleep apnea.

  • Learn how CPAP works and how to use a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea.

  • Learn ways to get past common problems with using CPAP.

  • Continuous positive airway pressure therapy ( CPAP) uses a machine to help a person who has obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) breathe more easily during sleep. A CPAP machine increases air pressure in your throat so that your airway doesn't collapse when you breathe in. When you use CPAP, your bed partner may sleep better...

  • Looks at surgery or procedures that change or restore your appearance. Covers Botox, dermabrasion, face-lift, eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), nose job (rhinoplasty), breast augmentation and reduction, liposuction, and tummy tuck (abdominoplasty).

  • Surgery for Crohn's disease usually is needed if ongoing symptoms do not respond to medicine or if side effects of medicine cause other serious problems. Surgery may be needed when you have: Bowel blockage (obstruction). Abscesses or tears...

  • Deep brain stimulation (DBS) uses electrical impulses to stimulate a target area in the brain. The stimulation affects movement by altering the activity in that area of the brain. The procedure does not destroy any brain tissue. And stimulation can be changed or stopped at any time. Surgery is required to implant the...

  • Drug-eluting stents prevent a coronary artery from narrowing again after angioplasty. They are coated with medicine that prevents scar tissue from growing into the artery. Stents are small, expandable tubes that are inserted during angioplasty into a narrowed or blocked section of the coronary artery to open the...

  • Guides through decision to treat fluid buildup in the middle ear. Discusses risks and benefits of treatment such as ear tubes, antibiotics, and adenoid surgery. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Learn how temporary ear tubes help treat ear infections.

  • Ear tubes are plastic and shaped like a hollow spool. Doctors suggest tubes for children who have repeat ear infections or when fluid stays behind the eardrum. A specialist ( otolaryngologist) places the tubes through a small surgical opening made in the eardrum (myringotomy or tympanostomy). The child is unconscious...

  • Learn how electroconvulsive therapy is done and what the benefits are.

  • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure used to treat severe depression. It may be used in people who have symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, or suicidal thoughts or when other treatments such as psychotherapy and antidepressant medicines have not worked. It is also used for other psychiatric and...

  • Electrolysis is a common method of removing unwanted hair. A small needle or thin metal probe is inserted into the opening of the skin where hair grows (small sacs beneath the skin called hair follicles). Next, a low-level electrical current passes through the needle or probe into your skin and destroys the hair...

  • Most nonmelanoma skin cancer can be cured if it is found and treated early. The goal of treatment is to completely remove the cancer. But the method of removal will differ depending on the experience of your doctor and the type of cancer you have. Advantages and disadvantages of common treatments for nonmelanoma skin...

  • Guides through decision to treat abnormal uterine bleeding. Explains symptoms that doctor would look for before recommending treatment. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Learn how and why endometrial ablation is done.

  • Discusses procedure to destroy (ablate) the uterine lining, or endometrium. Explains that it is done to control heavy, prolonged uterine bleeding. Looks at how well it works and risks.

  • Discusses laparoscopy to diagnose and remove mild to moderate endometriosis. Covers why it is done and what to expect after surgery. Includes how well laparoscopic surgery works and possible risks. Discusses infertility.

  • In people who have cirrhosis, high pressure in the veins that carry blood from the intestines to the liver (portal hypertension) causes many problems. Variceal bleeding—bleeding from enlarged veins (varices) in the digestive tract—is an extremely...

  • Guides you through the decision to use epidural corticosteroid shots to relieve back pain. Explains risks and benefits of epidural steroid shots. Compares steroid shots with other treatment for back pain.

  • Guides you through the decision to have surgery for a herniated disc in the low back. Describes the types of surgery available, as well as nonsurgical treatment. Lists the benefits and risks of both types of treatment. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Discusses extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), a procedure that uses shock waves to break a kidney stone into smaller pieces. Covers how it is done and what to expect after treatment. Covers risks.

  • Learn how your gallbladder is removed and what you can do to prepare.

  • Learn how to care for yourself and safely recover after gallbladder removal surgery.

  • Postcholecystectomy syndrome sometimes occurs when abdominal symptoms develop after surgery to remove the gallbladder (cholecystectomy). About 5% to 40% of people who have the gallbladder removed may experience symptoms. Symptoms of...

  • Guides through the decision to have surgery to remove the gallbladder. Includes info on open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Lists benefits and risks of surgery. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.

  • Several conditions or situations may require surgery to remove the gallbladder. Surgery usually is needed when: Your gallbladder suddenly becomes inflamed or infected (cholecystitis). Gallstones cause repeated attacks of pain. You have growths called polyps in the gallbladder, usually larger...

  • Discusses cholecystectomy, surgery to remove the gallbladder. Covers how it is done and how well it gets rid of gallstones. Also covers risks associated with laparoscopic surgery.

  • Compare the pros and cons of having weight-loss surgery.

  • Hear what other people thought about as they decided whether to have weight-loss surgery.

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