Catheters consist of thin tubes that are inserted into a part of the body to inject or drain away fluid, or to keep a passage into an area open. Catheters come in many shapes and sizes. They can provide life-sustaining bodily functions and help...
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are common in older people. When urine remains in the bladder too long, a condition called bladder retention, bacteria are able to grow freely and cause an infection in the bladder or kidneys. Causes of urinary...
Anesthesiologists use spinal blocks to interrupt pain sensations from the abdomen and legs during gynecologic, urologic, obstetric and some gastrointestinal surgeries. To perform a spinal block, an anesthesiologist injects medications below the...
The prostate gland produces male semen. It surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. While it lies in close proximity to the urinary system, it is actually an integral part of the reproductive...
Kidney stones, also called calculi, are a common urinary tract disease. Symptoms can occur suddenly, causing intense pain that often forces a patient to seek medical treatment. Pain from a kidney stone may come and go, depending on the movement of...
The most common complications of prostate surgery are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. For otherwise healthy men with cancer confined to the prostate gland, a radical prostatectomy, or removal of the entire prostate, seminal vesicles...
The perineum is the area extending from the anus to the vaginal orifice in women and from the anus to the back of the scrotum in men. Rich in nerve endings, the strip of skin between the anus and testicles is an area in which men may feel...
Prostatitis refers to inflammation of the prostate. According to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease, there are four types of prostatitis: acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic...
Urinary catheters are used in many different medical situations. They are an extremely common medical intervention. Catheters can be used to temporarily ease the distention of the bladder, or can be indwelling for hours to days and months. While...
Urinary tract infections, more commonly known as UTIs, affect between 8 and 10 million people each year, Healthcommunities.com reports. Around 95 percent of UTIs result from bacteria gaining access to the urethra and ascending into the bladder,...
The circulatory system is closed, protected from outside germs by layers of membranes designed to keep blood sterile, among other things. If you have a bacterial blood infection or bacteremia, you can be sure that something introduced bacteria...
Bladder spasms occur when the muscles in the bladder contract, triggering a persistent urge to urinate, regardless of the amount of urine in the bladder. Urge incontinence is a condition that occurs when bladder spasms involuntarily cause urine to...
Catheters are tubes that are inserted into the bladder through the urethra or the abdomen so that urine can be drained. These tubes are used when someone cannot urinate on their own because of surgical procedures, problems with the bladder muscles...
Urinary catheters, tubes inserted through the urethra into the bladder to drain urine, can cause a number of complications. While complications increase if the catheter remains in place over time, just inserting and removing the catheter can cause...
According to MayoClinic.com, UTIs, or urinary tract infections, most commonly affect the bladder and the urethra. A UTI is caused by bacteria from outside the body entering the urethra and traveling upward. UTIs cause distressing symptoms,...
Urinary tract infections may involve the lower tract or the upper tract. Lower tract infections affect the prostate gland, the urethra and the bladder, while upper tract infections affect the kidneys. The infections may migrate from one of those...
Urinary tract infections remain a major problem for patients during inpatient hospital stays. The risk is higher in patients who use indwelling catheters to clear the bladder of urine. Technological advances in medicine have allowed for the...
Proteus species like Proteus mirabillis, Proteus vulgaris and Proteus penneri are one of the most common causes of urinary tract infections (UTIs), especially in patients with a catheter or an abnormal urinary tract. In fact, Proteus sp. is...
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are the second most common type of infection in the United States, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Urinary tract infections occur 50 times more frequently in...
Potassium chloride and Coumadin are commonly used drugs involved in the treatment of many different conditions. For example, if you were ever hooked up to an IV in a hospital, you probably received potassium chloride. If you were ever admitted...
Enterococcus species of bacterial are the most common cause of hospital acquired urinary tract infections. People with an abnormal urinary tract or long-term indwelling catheters often get these UTIs. Antibiotics are the first line of defense...
A kidney infection, known medically as pyelonephritis, often occurs when a urinary tract infection, or UTI, spreads up the ureters to the kidneys. Kidney infections are more serious than UTIs and can cause life-threatening infections in some...
A urinary tract infection is caused by germs entering the urinary tract. The urinary tract includes the ureters, kidneys, bladder and urethra. Most bacteria are washed away during urination. But if bacteria remain in the urinary tract, an...
Clinical pathways are tools of coordinated care that use a team approach to move patients toward goals by optimizing resources. Heart failure is a condition that follows a predictable clinical course when given recommended care. Better outcomes...
A lumbar spinal fusion is a surgery performed to relieve back pain. During the operation, the surgeon removes the lumbar disc and replaces it with a bone graft. The vertebral bones on each side of the graft fuse, forming one solid area of bone....
Compartment syndrome occurs when there is additional pressure that builds up in a fixed area, which in turn decreases blood flow and compresses other organs and tissues within that space, such as the bladder. When blood flow is decreased, organs...
Although they live on humans as part of the body's normal flora, staphylococcus bacteria are opportunists. This means they take advantage of a compromised situation such as a surgical wound, and multiply. Staphylococcus epidermidis and...
Deep venous thrombosis, or DVT, is a known complication of knee fractures. "Knee fractures" refer specifically to fractures of the distal femur, patella, or proximal tibia. These fractures are associated with increased clotting risk due to the...
Probiotics are available for purchase without a prescription for both adults and children. Even babies and toddlers can use probiotics under the guidance of their pediatrician, if their digestive health is impaired. Kids might benefit from...
