What is procedural sedation? Procedural sedation is usually minimal or moderate sedation; the lower tier of four specific sedation levels recognized by anesthesiologists and other clinicians. Procedural sedation induces relaxation and a depressed level of consciousness in patients who undergo certain noninvasive or minimally invasive procedures. Procedural sedation involves the administration of sedatives and pain …
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What is conscious sedation? Sedatives and pain relievers as well as local anesthetic are used to induce conscious sedation. Conscious sedation, medically known as procedural sedation and/or moderate sedation, is a procedure to relieve anxiety and depress the level of consciousness in patients, before minor procedures. Conscious sedation is usually performed by physicians in their office, with the administration of …
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Intravenous medications are switched to oral as soon as it is safe to do so. This can reduce the impact of a number of problems like antibiotic resistance and infection at the injection site, among other serious issues. Intravenous-to-oral (IV-to-PO [per oral]) switch therapy is a treatment procedure to convert the administration of medication from intravenous to oral. The procedure …
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What is a stroke? Neuroprotective agents theoretically can reduce secondary brain damage from a stroke. No drug for this purpose has been FDA-approved, but many are under study. A stroke is an interruption in blood supply to a part of the brain causing brain tissue damage. Stroke is a medical emergency and one of the leading causes of death and …
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What is immunosuppression? Immunosupression may be caused by illness or it can be induced therapeutically. Drugs are used to suppress the immune system in organ transplant patients to keep their bodies from rejecting the new organ. Immunosuppression compromises the immune system’s ability to fight infection. A healthy immune system protects the body by detecting and destroying harmful microbes and/or body …
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Does Pyridium (phenazopyridine) cause side effects? Pyridium (phenazopyridine) is an oral urinary analgesic (pain relieving medication) used to relieve symptoms associated with lower urinary tract infections (UTIs) including urinary burning, pain, urgency, and frequency, and other symptoms. Although the exact mechanism of action is unknown, Pyridium is thought to provide relief of symptoms of UTIs by acting as a local …
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What is Mycapssa (octreotide)? Mycapssa is indicated for long-term maintenance treatment in acromegaly patients who have responded to and tolerated treatment with octreotide or lanreotide. Acromegaly is a condition due to the production of too much growth hormone by the pituitary gland after the end of adolescence. When there is secretion of too much growth hormone before the end of …
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Is there a substitute for human blood? While there is no synthetic substitute for human blood, current research largely focuses on developing substitute blood components, like platelets for clotting or red cells for oxygen/CO2 exchange. Though some clinical trials of blood substitutes have shut down because of safety concerns, the field has come a long way since early doctors tried …
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What is prednisone? Prednisone belongs to a class of drugs called corticosteroids, which are a type of steroids. Prednisone reduces inflammation and allergy symptoms. For example, prednisone is commonly used to treat the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis and allergic asthma. How does prednisone affect my body? Prednisone regulates various chemicals produced by your body that are involved in inflammatory swelling …
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What is Promacta (eltrombopag) and how is it used? Promacta is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 1 year of age and older with low blood platelet counts due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), when other medicines to treat ITP or surgery to remove the spleen have not worked well enough. Promacta is also used to treat …
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