Cystoscopy Glossary of Medical Terms

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness that is of short duration, rapidly progressive, and in need of urgent care.
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Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep . A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body such as a tooth or an area of skin without affecting consciousness. Regional anesthesia numbs a larger part of the body such as a leg or arm, also without affecting consciousness. The term "conduction anesthesia" encompasses both local and regional anesthetic techniques. Many surgical procedures can be done with conduction anesthesia without significant pain . In many situations, such as a C-section , conduction anesthesia is safer and therefore preferable to general anesthesia. However, there are also many types of surgery in which general anesthesia is clearly appropriate.
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Anesthesiologist: A physician or, less often, a dentist who is specialized in the practice of anesthesiology, the branch of medicine involving the use of drugs or other agents that cause insensibility to pain.
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Anesthetic: A substance that causes lack of feeling or awareness. A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep .
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Aspirin: A good example of a tradename that entered into the language, Aspirin was once the Bayer trademark for acetylsalicylic acid .
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Bladder: Any pouch or other flexible enclosure that can hold liquids or gases but usually refers to the hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine -- the urinary bladder. The kidneys filter waste from the blood and produce urine, which enters the bladder through two tubes called ureters. Urine leaves the bladder through another tube, the urethra . In women, the urethra is a short tube that opens just in front of the vagina . In men, it is longer, passing through the prostate gland and then the penis . Infection of the bladder is called cystitis .
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Bladder cancer : A common form of cancer that begins in the lining of the bladder as a superficial tumor (carcinoma in situ). The most common warning sign is blood in the urine. If there is enough blood to color the urine it may range from slightly rusty to deep red. Other symptoms may be pain during urination and frequent urination or feeling the need to urinate without results.
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Blood clots: Blood that has been converted from a liquid to a solid state. Also called a thrombus.
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Blood in the urine: Blood in the urine is termed hematuria.
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Bridge: A set of one or more false teeth supported by a metal framework, used to replace one or more missing teeth.
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Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread).
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Catheter: A thin, flexible tube . For example, a catheter placed in a vein provides a pathway for giving drugs, nutrients, fluids, or blood products. Samples of blood can also be withdrawn through the catheter.
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Cauterization: The use of heat to destroy abnormal cells. Also called diathermy or electrodiathermy.
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Complication: In medicine, an additional problem that arises following a procedure, treatment or illness and is secondary to it. A complication complicates the situation.
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Cystoscope: An optical instrument (a scope) that is inserted through the urethra into the bladder.
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Cystoscopy: A procedure in which the doctor inserts a lighted instrument called a cystoscope into the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body) in order to look inside the urethra and bladder.
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Drain: A device for removing fluid from a cavity or wound. A drain is typically a tube or wick. As a verb, to allow fluid to be released from a confined area.
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Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medical and surgical care to patients arriving at the hospital in need of immediate care. Emergency department personnel may also respond to certain situations within the hospital such cardiac arrests.
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Endoscopy: Endoscopy is a broad term used to described examining the inside of the body using a lighted, flexible instrument called an endoscope. In general, an endoscope is introduced into the body through a natural opening like the mouth or anus. Although endoscopy can include examination of other organs, the most common endoscopic procedures evaluate the esophagus (swallowing tube), stomach, and portions of the intestine.
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Epididymitis: Inflammation of the epididymis, a structure within the scrotum attached to the backside of the testis . The epididymis is a coiled segment of the spermatic ducts that serves to store, mature and transport spermatozoa between the testis and the vas (the vas deferens).

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Fasting: going without food or drink. Patients may be advised to fast for a certain period of time prior to surgery , medical procedures, or certain blood tests.
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Fever : Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.).
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Foley catheter: See: Catheter, Foley .
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Genital: Pertaining to the external and internal organs of reproduction. (Not to be confused with genetic.)
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Hematuria: Blood in the urine. Hematuria may or may not be accompanied by pain, but it is always abnormal and should be further investigated. Painful hematuria can be caused by a number of disorders, including infections and stones in the urinary tract. Painless hematuria can also be due to many causes, including cancer .
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Ibuprofen: A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used to treat pain, swelling, and fever . Common brand names for Ibuprofen include Advil, Motrin, and Nuprin.
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Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease, appears in a particular population or area. In disease epidemiology, the incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases during a specific time period. The incidence is distinct from the prevalence which refers to the number of cases alive on a certain date.
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Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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Inflammation: A basic way in which the body reacts to infection , irritation or other injury, the key feature being redness, warmth, swelling and pain . Inflammation is now recognized as a type of nonspecific immune response .
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Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen which clear "poisons" from the blood, regulate acid concentration and maintain water balance in the body by excreting urine. The kidneys are part of the urinary tract. The urine then passes through connecting tubes called "ureters" into the bladder. The bladder stores the urine until it is released during urination.

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Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and containing the teeth, gums, and tongue. Foodstuffs are broken down mechanically in the mouth by chewing and saliva is added as a lubricant. Saliva contains amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. 2. Any opening or aperture in the body. The mouth in both senses of the word is also called the os, the Latin word for an opening, or mouth. The o in os is pronounced as in hope. The genitive form of os is oris from which comes the word oral.
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Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for example, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis . There is always an onset to a disease but never to the return to good health. The default setting is good health.
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Operating room: A facility equipped for performing surgery. Abbreviated OR.
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Operation: Although there are many meanings to the word "operation", in medicine it refers to a surgical procedure.
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Outpatient: A patient who is not an inpatient (not hospitalized) but instead is cared for elsewhere -- as in a doctor's office, clinic, or day surgery center. The term outpatient dates back at least to 1715. Outpatient care today is also called ambulatory care .
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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Pelvic: Having to do with the pelvis, the lower part of the abdomen, located between the hip bones.
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Perineum: The area between the anus and the scrotum in the male and between the anus and the vulva (the labial opening to the vagina) in the female. An episiotomy is a surgical procedure to widen the outlet of the birth canal to facilitate delivery of the baby and avoid a jagged rip of the perineum.
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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
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Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
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Prostate: A gland within the male reproductive system that is located just below the bladder. Chestnut shaped, the prostate surrounds the beginning of the urethra, the canal that empties the bladder.
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Resection: Surgical removal of part of an organ.
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Stent: A tube designed to be inserted into a vessel or passageway to keep it open.
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Stricture: An abnormal narrowing of a body passage, especially a tube or a canal. The stricture may be due, for example, to scar tissue or to a tumor. Stricture refers to both the process of narrowing and the narrowed part itself.
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Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity by operative or manual methods. A medical doctor specialized in the removal of organs, masses and tumors and in doing other procedures using a knife (scalpel). The definition of a "surgeon" has begun to blur in recent years as surgeons have begun to minimize the cutting, employ new technologies that are "minimally invasive," use scopes, etc.
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the conjunctiva and cornea .
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Testicles: The testicles (also called testes or gonads) are the male sex glands. They are located behind the penis in a pouch of skin called the scrotum. The testicles produce and store sperm, and they are also the body's main source of male hormones (testosterone). These hormones control the development of the reproductive organs and other male characteristics, such as body and facial hair, low voice, and wide shoulders.

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Thrombophlebitis: Inflammation of a vein that occurs when a blood clot forms. See also phlebitis .
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Tubes: The "tubes" are medically known as the Fallopian tubes. There are two Fallopian tubes, one on each side, which transport the egg from the ovary to the uterus (the womb). The Fallopian tubes have small hair-like projections called cilia on the cells of the lining.
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Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a classic sign of inflammation, and can be benign or malignant (cancerous). There are dozens of different types of tumors. Their names usually reflect the kind of tissue they arise in, and may also tell you something about their shape or how they grow. For example, a medulloblastoma is a tumor that arises from embryonic cells (a blastoma) in the inner part of the brain (the medulla). Diagnosis depends on the type and location of the tumor. Tumor marker tests and imaging may be used; some tumors can be seen (for example, tumors on the exterior of the skin) or felt (palpated with the hands).
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Ureter: A tube that carries urine down from the kidney to the bladder.
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Urethra: The transport tube leading from the bladder to discharge urine outside the body. In males, the urethra travels through the penis, and carries semen as well as urine. In females, the urethra is shorter than in the male and emerges above the vaginal opening, as indicated here:

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Urinary: Having to do with the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. The urinary system represents the functional and anatomic aspects of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder.
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Urinary tract: The organs of the body that produce and discharge urine. These include the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
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Urinary tract infection: Infection of the kidney, ureter, bladder, or urethra. Not everyone with a UTI has symptoms. Common symptoms include a frequent urge to urinate and a painful, burning when urinating. More females than males have UTIs. Underlying conditions that impair the normal urinary flow can lead to complicated UTIs.
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Urine: Liquid waste. The urine is a clear, transparent fluid. It normally has an amber color. The average amount of urine excreted in 24 hours is from 40 to 60 ounces (about 1,200 cubic centimeters). Chemically, the urine is mainly an aqueous (watery) solution of salt (sodium chloride) and substances called urea and uric acid. Normally, it contains about 960 parts of water to 40 parts of solid matter. Abnormally, it may contain sugar (in diabetes), albumen (a protein) (as in some forms of kidney disease), bile pigments (as in jaundice ), or abnormal quantities of one or another of its normal components.
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Urologist: A physician who specializes in diseases of the urinary organs in females and the urinary tract and sex organs in males. Also called a urological surgeon.
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Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood low in oxygen content from the body back to the heart. The deoxygenated form of hemoglobin (deoxyhemoglobin) in venous blood makes it appear dark. Veins are part of the afferent wing of the circulatory system which returns blood to the heart.
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Warfarin : An anticoagulant drug (brand names: Coumarin, Panwarfin, Sofarin) taken to prevent the blood from clotting and to treat blood clots and overly thick blood. Warfarin is also used to reduce the risk of clots causing strokes or heart attacks .
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