Category: Pm-Po

  • Postoperative hemorrhage

    Bleeding after a surgical procedure. The hemorrhage may occur immediately after the surgery or be delayed. It need not be restricted to the surgical wound. Common causes of postoperative hemorrhage are from tissues which cannot be entirely prevented from bleeding and depend on blood clotting to stop the hemorrhage, problems in the normal clotting mechanism of blood, and clips…

  • Postoperative care

    Care given after surgery until the patient is discharged from the hospital or surgicenter and, in some cases, continuing on an ambulatory basis. Postoperative care is aimed at meeting the patient’s physical and psychological needs directly after surgery.

  • Postoperative

    After surgery. As opposed to preoperative, before surgery.

  • Postop

    Short for postoperative; after a surgical operation. The opposite of postop is preop.

  • Postmenopausal

    After menopause, the period of time after a woman has experienced 12 consecutive months without menstruation.

  • Posthitis

    Inflammation of the prepuce (the foreskin of the penis). In the uncircumcised male, posthitis and balanitis (inflammation of the glans, the rounded head of the penis) usually occur together as balanoposthitis: inflammation of both the glans and foreskin. Circumcision prevents balanoposthitis. Without a foreskin, there can of course be no posthitis and hence no balanoposthitis. An uncircumcised boy should be taught to clean his…

  • Postherpetic neuralgia

    The most common complication of shingles, persistence of the pain associated with shingles beyond 1 month, even after the rash is gone. The pain can be severe and debilitating, and it occurs primarily in persons over age 50. The pain of postherpetic neuralgia can be reduced by certain medications including tricyclic antidepressant medications and some antiseizure medications. Capsaicin cream, a derivative of…

  • Posteroanterior

    From back to front. A chest x-ray taken with the chest against the film plate and the x-ray machine behind the patient is a posteroanterior (PA) view. As opposed to anteroposterior (AP).

  • Posterior

    The back or behind, as opposed to the anterior.

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

    A common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Family members of victims also can develop the disorder. PTSD can occur in people of any age, including children and adolescents. More than twice as many women as men experience PTSD following exposure to trauma. Depression, alcohol…