Human health and medicine

Intervertebral foramen

Intervertebral foramen (foramen intervertebrale, neural foramen): opening between adjacent vertebrae linking the spinal canal to the extraspinal region; bounded by pedicles, disc, and facet capsule; transmits spinal nerves and vessels; narrowing causes foraminal stenosis.

Intestinal anastomosis

Intestinal anastomosis is a surgical connection between two segments of intestine, a procedure where leakage rates are reported to vary between 3 and 20 percent.

Intestinal angiostrongyliasis

Intestinal (abdominal) angiostrongyliasis, caused by the nematode Angiostrongylus costaricensis, is a zoonotic eosinophilic intestinal disease of Latin America and the Caribbean transmitted by infected slugs or snails, diagnosed mainly by histopathology and serology.

Intestinal Barrier Function

Intestinal barrier function is the intestinal wall's selective defense against bacteria and toxic molecules while allowing passage of nutrients, electrolytes, and water; its measurable correlate is intestinal permeability.

Intestinal failure

Intestinal failure is the loss of gut absorptive function requiring intravenous support, classified as acute, prolonged acute, or chronic, and most often caused by short bowel syndrome.

Intestinal infectious diseases

Intestinal infectious diseases (gastroenteritis, infectious diarrhea, DOID:100): stomach and intestinal infections by viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi; WHO ranks diarrheal disease third among child deaths, treated with oral rehydration solution and zinc.

Intestinal obstruction due to inspissated milk

Intestinal obstruction due to inspissated milk, also called inspissated milk syndrome or milk curd syndrome (ICD-11 KB87.0, ICD-10-CM P76.2), is a neonatal bowel obstruction from hard milk curds in premature infants fed high-energy formula, typically at the terminal ileum.

Intestinal obstruction of newborn

Neonatal intestinal obstruction (ICD-11 KB87, SNOMED 733145007): blockage of a newborn's GI tract from birth to 30 days, usually congenital, presenting with bilious vomiting, distention, and delayed meconium; classified as high or low obstruction.

Intestinal resection

Intestinal resection is the surgical removal of a diseased segment of small intestine or colon with the ends reconnected, performed for cancer, Crohn's disease, obstruction, ischemia, and perforation.

Intestinal transplantation

Intestinal transplantation is surgery that replaces a patient's failed small intestine with a donor graft, a last-resort treatment for intestinal failure when parenteral nutrition causes complications.

Intestinal villus

An intestinal villus (plural villi) is one of the finger-like projections of the small intestine that absorb nutrients, amplifying the gut's surface area about 6.5-fold; their loss marks celiac disease.

Intima–media thickness measurement

Intima–media thickness (IMT) measurement is an ultrasound technique measuring the combined intimal and medial layers of the carotid artery wall to detect subclinical atherosclerosis, introduced in 1986 and now contested in clinical guidelines.

Intimate part

Intimate part, also called private parts, is a euphemism for the genitals: vulva, vagina, penis, scrotum, and perineum. Covers anatomy, taboo vocabulary, and why precise naming matters in health care.

Intra-abdominal hernia

Intra-abdominal hernia, also called internal or intraperitoneal hernia (ICD-11 DD50.2), is protrusion of viscera through peritoneal or mesenteric apertures; congenital paraduodenal and acquired post-bypass types cause closed-loop obstruction diagnosed by CT.

Intra-aortic balloon pump

Intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP), counterpulsation via a balloon in the descending aorta, supports the failing heart; first used clinically in 1967, now Class III for routine use in cardiogenic shock after IABP-SHOCK II.

Intra-arterial chemotherapy

Intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC) is a cancer treatment delivering drugs directly into the artery feeding a tumor, used chiefly for liver tumors via hepatic artery infusion and for retinoblastoma.

Intra-arterial infusion

Intra-arterial infusion is a medical procedure that delivers chemotherapy directly into the artery supplying a tumor, most often the hepatic artery for colorectal liver metastases, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cholangiocarcinoma.

Intra-arterial injection

Intra-arterial injection delivers a drug or contrast agent directly into an artery feeding an organ or tumor, used for chemotherapy, thrombolysis, and embolization since 1950.

Intra-articular injection

An intra-articular injection, also called an intra-articular corticosteroid injection, places medication such as a corticosteroid or local anesthetic into a joint, relieving arthritis pain for weeks to months.

Intra-Op trial

Intra-Op trial (NCT04182997), a Phase 4 randomized trial by University of Missouri-Columbia testing intraoperative epidural dexamethasone versus saline after lumbar discectomy, with nerve-root inflammation grading, 200 participants, recruiting since 2019.

Intracameral injection

An intracameral injection, or anterior chamber injection, places medication into the fluid-filled space between the cornea and iris, most often antibiotics at the end of cataract surgery.

Intracapsular fracture of femur

Intracapsular fracture of femur (ICD-11 NC72.23), a femoral neck fracture inside the hip joint capsule; classified by Garden or Pauwels, prone to avascular necrosis and nonunion, treated by fixation if nondisplaced, arthroplasty if displaced.

Intracardiac echocardiography

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is catheter-based ultrasound imaging from inside the heart, used instead of TEE or fluoroscopy to guide transseptal puncture, AF ablation, ASD/PFO closure, and left atrial appendage occlusion.

Intracardiac thrombosis

Intracardiac thrombosis, also called intracardiac thrombus, is a blood clot forming inside a heart chamber, most often the left ventricle or left atrial appendage in atrial fibrillation or myocardial infarction; it is the most common cardiac mass and is detected mainly by echocardiography, CT, and CMR.

Intracavernosal injection

Intracavernosal injection (ICI) is a urological procedure in which a vasoactive drug is injected into the corpora cavernosa of the penis, a second-line erectile dysfunction treatment after PDE5 inhibitors.

Intracavernous injection

Intracavernous injection is a procedure that injects vasoactive drugs such as alprostadil directly into the corpora cavernosa of the penis to produce an erection for treating erectile dysfunction.

Intracerebral administration

Intracerebral administration is a drug delivery route in which a therapeutic agent is injected or infused directly into brain tissue, bypassing the blood–brain barrier, mainly through convection-enhanced delivery.

Intracerebral haemorrhage

Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), also called hemorrhagic stroke, is non-traumatic bleeding into brain parenchyma; the deadliest stroke type, over 10% of strokes, >40% mortality, treated with blood pressure control, hemostasis, and rehabilitation.

Intracerebral hemorrhage

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), nontraumatic brain bleeding, second deadliest stroke type; ~10-20% of strokes, one-third die within a month; treated with early blood pressure control, care bundles, and minimally invasive clot evacuation (MISTIE III, ENRICH).