edgepedia

Clinical assessment and procedures

5,159 articles

Padeliporfin

Padeliporfin (WST11, Tookad, Stakel) is a palladium-bacteriochlorophyll photosensitizer for vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy of unilateral low-risk prostate cancer; EU-approved 2017, not recommended by NICE.

Paediatric anaesthesia

Paediatric anaesthesia (pediatric anesthesia) is the anesthesiology subspecialty for neonates, infants, and children, defined by developmental airway, cardiovascular, and pharmacologic differences, weight-based dosing, and safety guidelines from the AAP, ESAIC, and Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Pafolacianine

Pafolacianine (Cytalux, OTL-38) is a folate receptor-targeted near-infrared fluorescent imaging agent injected before surgery; FDA-approved in 2021 for ovarian cancer and 2022 for lung lesion identification.

PAH clearance

PAH clearance is a renal function test measuring how quickly the kidneys remove para-aminohippurate (PAH) from plasma, the reference standard for estimating effective renal plasma flow.

Pain in throat or chest

Pain in throat or chest (ICD-11 MD30) is a WHO symptom code covering throat pain and chest pain, with child codes MD30.0 and MD30.1; chest pain drives over 6.5 million US emergency visits yearly.

Pain management

Pain management (pain medicine): health care field for assessing and reducing pain, defined by IASP as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Covers biopsychosocial care, multidisciplinary programs, CBT plus exercise, nonopioid and opioid treatments, and the CDC 2022 opioid guideline.

Pain scale

Pain scale: instruments for measuring pain intensity, chiefly the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Verbal Rating Scale (VRS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Wong-Baker FACES, and observational scales like FLACC and PAINAD for nonverbal patients.

Paired associative stimulation

Paired associative stimulation (PAS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation protocol pairing peripheral nerve stimuli with transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce lasting cortical plasticity, introduced by Stefan in 2000.

PAKMGTEST study

PAKMGTEST (NCT04130620), a completed observational study validating an applied kinesiology magnesium muscle stretch test against red blood cell magnesium levels in 50 chiropractic patients; no results posted.

Palatal expansion

Palatal expansion, also called maxillary expansion, is an orthodontic treatment that widens the upper jaw at the midpalatal suture, correcting narrow palates and posterior crossbites.

Palatal Obturators

Palatal obturators are removable prostheses closing palatal defects from cleft palate or maxillectomy, separating oral and nasal cavities to restore speech, swallowing, and appearance; first described by Lusitanus in 1560.

Palate re-repair

Palate re-repair is a revision operation that re-dissects and repositions the velar muscles of a previously repaired cleft palate to correct persistent velopharyngeal insufficiency, proposed as an alternative to pharyngeal flap or sphincter pharyngoplasty.

Palate repair

Palate repair, also called cleft palate repair or palatoplasty, is the surgical closure of a cleft palate, typically done when a child is 4 to 18 months old.

Palliative care

Palliative care: WHO-defined approach relieving physical, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering in life-threatening illness; founded via Cicely Saunders's 1967 St Christopher's Hospice; only 14% of the 56.8 million in need receive it.

Palliative Care Outcome Scale

The Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS) is a ten-item questionnaire measuring symptoms and concerns in palliative care patients, developed in 1999 and used in over 20 countries.

Palliative sedation

Palliative sedation, also called terminal or continuous deep sedation, is monitored sedative medication that reduces awareness to relieve refractory suffering at the end of life; midazolam is standard, survival studies show no shortening, and it is ethically distinguished from euthanasia by intent and proportionality.

Pallidotomy

Pallidotomy is a stereotactic neurosurgical operation that destroys a small target in the globus pallidus internus to relieve Parkinson's motor symptoms, especially levodopa-induced dyskinesia, rigidity, and tremor.

Pallor conjunctiva

Pallor conjunctiva (conjunctival pallor), ICD-11 MC16, is paleness of the inner eyelid lining used as a bedside sign of anemia; likelihood ratio about 4.5 when present, high specificity but low screening sensitivity.

Palpation

Palpation is the physical examination technique of feeling the body with fingers or hands, one of four exam methods (inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation), used for pulses, swelling, temperature, tenderness, and guiding diagnosis and treatment.

Pancreas transplantation

Pancreas transplantation is the surgical implantation of a donor pancreas to restore insulin production in people with diabetes, first performed in 1966 at the University of Minnesota.

Pancreatectomy

A pancreatectomy is an operation that removes all or part of the pancreas, chiefly for tumors; forms include the Whipple procedure, distal pancreatectomy, and total pancreatectomy.

Pancreatic function test

A pancreatic function test is a diagnostic procedure assessing exocrine pancreatic function, by direct measurement of stimulated secretion or indirect markers, to detect insufficiency in chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis.

Pancreatic head resection

Pancreatic head resection is an operation removing the head of the pancreas, most often as the Whipple procedure, the main curative treatment for pancreatic head cancers.

Pancreatic resection

Pancreatic resection is surgery that removes part or all of the pancreas to treat tumors and other pancreatic disease, including the Whipple procedure for pancreatic head cancer.

Pancreatic stent placement

Pancreatic stent placement is an endoscopic procedure that inserts a small tube into the pancreatic duct to prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis, drain an obstructed duct, or bridge a leak.

Pancreaticogastrostomy

Pancreaticogastrostomy is a surgical reconstruction that joins the pancreatic remnant to the stomach after resection, restoring exocrine drainage; it is the main alternative to pancreaticojejunostomy after pancreaticoduodenectomy, reintroduced in 1967.

Pancreaticojejunostomy

Pancreaticojejunostomy is a surgical anastomosis joining the pancreatic duct to a loop of jejunum, performed to restore drainage after pancreaticoduodenectomy or to relieve pain in chronic pancreatitis.

Pancreatoduodenectomy

Pancreatoduodenectomy, commonly called the Whipple procedure, is a major abdominal operation removing the pancreatic head, duodenum, distal bile duct, and gallbladder, used mainly for pancreatic head cancer.

Pancreatography

Pancreatography is the imaging of the pancreatic ducts, performed either by injecting contrast during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or by noninvasive magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP).

Pancreatojejunostomy

Pancreatojejunostomy is a surgical anastomosis joining the pancreatic duct or cut pancreas to the jejunum, performed to reconstruct after pancreatoduodenectomy or to drain a dilated duct in chronic pancreatitis.