Doctor-Reviewed Health Guides: Conditions, Procedures & Health News

Hyperthermia therapy uses heat to damage and kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. It's mostly used to make chemotherapy and radiation work better and is often offered in clinical trials. Heat comes from radio waves, microwaves, ultrasound or lasers. Most people tolerate it well, though heat can cause burns, blisters and bruises.

ASD closure is a procedure that closes an atrial septal defect, a hole in the wall between the heart's two upper chambers. Large holes make the heart and lungs work harder and, untreated, can cause arrhythmias, heart failure and stroke. The hole is closed with a device through a catheter or with a patch during surgery.

Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy treats sleep apnea with a machine that pushes air through a mask into your airways to keep them open while you sleep. The two main types are CPAP, with one constant pressure, and BPAP, with two pressure levels. Benefits include less daytime tiredness, less snoring and lower blood pressure.

Treatments to reduce wrinkles are cosmetic options that smooth skin and soften lines on the face, neck, hands and arms. Wrinkles are a normal part of aging and don't need treatment. Options include retinoid creams, chemical peels, laser resurfacing, wrinkle-relaxing injections, dermal fillers and facelifts. Results last from up to six months to permanent.

Neoadjuvant therapy is cancer treatment given before surgery to shrink a tumor so it's easier to remove, and sometimes to eliminate it so surgery isn't needed. It may be chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, radiation or a combination. It's used for more than a dozen cancers, including breast, rectal and lung cancer.

An annuloplasty is a heart procedure that repairs a leaky heart valve by placing a small ring around it to tighten and reinforce it. A leaky valve lets blood flow backward and, untreated, can lead to heart failure. The ring stays in place permanently and is placed through open-heart or minimally invasive surgery.

A maxillectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the upper jaw (maxilla), mainly to treat cancer in the upper jaw, sinuses, nose or roof of the mouth. The opening is often rebuilt with a tissue flap or a prosthetic. The hospital stay can be up to two weeks, and speech and swallowing may take months to recover.

Digital disimpaction is a procedure where a provider uses a gloved, lubricated finger to break up and remove hard, trapped stool from the rectum. It relieves fecal impaction and severe constipation that hasn't improved with laxatives, stool softeners or enemas. Only a trained professional should do it, never yourself. Risk is low when done correctly.

A small bowel resection is surgery to remove a damaged or diseased part of the small intestine. It treats tumors, small bowel cancer, Crohn's disease strictures, bowel obstructions and injuries. The surgeon reconnects the healthy ends or creates an ileostomy. You'll stay in the hospital a few days and fully recover in a few months.

Augmentation of labor is a way to speed up labor that's slow or stalled, used after labor has already begun. Methods include breaking the water, oxytocin through an IV, misoprostol and a balloon catheter. Your care team monitors you and your baby throughout. It's generally safe; risks include overly strong contractions and infection.

Voice therapy is a type of speech therapy that uses education and vocal exercises to prevent or treat voice disorders. It's led by a speech-language pathologist who specializes in voice. It helps laryngitis, muscle tension dysphonia and vocal cord nodules, and recovery after vocal cord surgery. Most people attend a few times a month for several months.

Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is surgery that permanently reduces spasticity (muscle tightness) in the legs of children with cerebral palsy. A neurosurgeon cuts some overactive sensory nerve fibers in the lower spinal cord while protecting the motor nerves. It's followed by months of intensive physical therapy. Not every child is a candidate, and few hospitals offer it.

Biologic therapy for severe asthma uses lab-made medicines that target the antibodies, cells or molecules driving airway inflammation. It's for people with moderate to severe asthma who still have frequent symptoms despite using inhalers correctly. It's given as a shot or IV infusion every 2 to 8 weeks alongside usual asthma medicines and can cut flare-ups and steroid use.

A prosthetic testicle (testicular implant) is an implant placed in an empty scrotum to restore its look and feel. It doesn't make sperm or testosterone and isn't needed for erections or sex. People get one after losing a testicle to cancer, torsion or infection. Surgery takes under an hour, and the implant can last a lifetime.

Direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) are anticoagulants (blood thinners) that prevent blood clots by attaching directly to thrombin, an enzyme central to clotting, and blocking it. The main ones are argatroban and bivalirudin, given by IV, and dabigatran, a pill. They treat or prevent DVT, pulmonary embolism and stroke in atrial fibrillation. The main risk is bleeding.

Assertive community treatment (ACT) is a set of treatment and support services for people with severe mental health conditions, delivered by a specialist team at home and in the community instead of in a hospital. It's for people at the highest risk of a psychiatric crisis or hospitalization. Studies show ACT reduces hospital stays and improves quality of life.

A subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) is a type of ICD placed under the skin instead of through the veins into the heart. It watches your heart rhythm and delivers a shock to stop dangerous fast rhythms, helping prevent sudden cardiac death. It can't pace the heart. The battery lasts about five years.

Potassium binders are medicines that lower high potassium by binding extra potassium in your intestines so it leaves your body in stool. They treat hyperkalemia when diet changes and other medicines aren't enough. A level of 6.5 mmol/L or higher can cause dangerous heart rhythms. Common side effects are constipation, diarrhea, bloating and nausea.

An aortobifemoral bypass is open abdominal surgery that places a Y-shaped graft to route blood around blocked arteries in the lower belly and pelvis, improving blood flow to both legs. It treats severe aortoiliac occlusive disease and lowers the risk of gangrene and amputation. Full recovery takes 2 to 3 months.

An intercostal nerve block is an injection under a rib that relieves pain in the chest or upper abdomen. The shot contains a local anesthetic and usually a steroid. It's used for pain from rib fractures, shingles and surgery. It takes only minutes, and the steroid's relief starts in two to three days and can last several months.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) uses a special pacemaker to help both lower heart chambers (ventricles) beat at the same time. It treats heart failure when the ventricles beat out of sync, usually after medicines and lifestyle changes aren't enough. CRT helps most people breathe easier and live longer, though it doesn't help 2 to 3 in 10.

Urethral dilation is a minimally invasive procedure that widens a urethra narrowed by a urethral stricture, a band of scar tissue that can block urine flow. A urologist stretches the narrow area with gradually thicker rods or a balloon. You typically go home the same day with a catheter. Strictures often come back, and urethroplasty is then usually recommended.

A prophylactic mastectomy, also called a preventive or risk-reducing mastectomy, is surgery to remove one or both healthy breasts to lower breast cancer risk. It's for people at high risk, such as those with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene change or a strong family history. It can't remove all risk because some breast tissue always remains.

Aortic root replacement is open-heart surgery that repairs an aneurysm in the aortic root, the part of the aorta attached to the heart, by replacing it with a graft. It prevents a rupture or dissection, which can be life-threatening. The hospital stay is about a week, and full recovery takes 6 to 12 weeks or longer.