Glossary
- TITANIUM
- A metallic element used to make surgical implants.
- TORTICOLLIS
- A contraction, often spasmodic, of the muscles of the neck, chiefly those supplied by the spinal accessory nerve; the head is drawn to one side and usually rotated so that the chin points to the other side.
- TOXICOLOGY
- The study of the toxic or harmful effects of substances on the body.
- TRACHEA
- The windpipe.
- TRACTION
- The act of drawing or pulling, as by an elastic or spring force. A pulling or dragging force exerted on a limb in a distal direction.
- TRACTION SPUR
- Bony excrescence appearing on the anterolateral surface of the vertebral body near but not at the body margin that arises as a result of disc degeneration.
- TRACTOTOMY
- Surgical section of a fiber tract of the central nervous system.
- TRANQUILIZER
- A drug that promotes tranquility by calming, soothing, quieting, or pacifying without sedating or depressant effects.
- TRANSFORAMINAL LUMBAR INTERBODY FUSION (TLIF)
- an operation where the lumbar spine is approached through an incision in the back. A portion of bone and disc are removed from the spine and replaced with an implant that is inserted into the disc space.
- TRANSITIONAL VERTEBRA
- Vertebra whose structure features some of the characteristics of the two adjacent vertebra. A common example is the fifth lumbar vertebra that has partial sacral components.
- TRANSPLANT
- The implantation of bone tissue, as in grafting, from one part of the body to another. Transplant also refers to the transfer of an organ such as a kidney or heart from one individual to another.
- TRANSSPHENOIDAL APPROACH
- Operative method of reaching the pituitary gland or skull base traversing the nose and sinuses.
- TRANSVERSE
- Crosswise; lying across the long axis of the body or of a part.
- TRANSVERSE PROCESS
- Bony process arising from midportion of the spinal ring just posterior to the pedicle and pars interarticulars.
- TRAUMATIC
- Results from fracture in other areas of the bony hook than in pars interarticularis.
- TRIANGLES
- For surgical approaches and other considerations, the anterior half of the neck is divided into triangles- anterior, digastric, posterior, submental, and carotid.
- TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA
- Paroxysmal pain in the face. Pain may be so severe that it causes an involuntary grimace or tic. (Tic Douloureux).
- TSULI
- For severe cervical spondylosis; an expansive, multiple laminectomy.
- TUMOR
- Any swelling or tumefaction.
- TWELFTH CRANIAL NERVES
- See other nerves.
- U.S. FOOD and DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA)
- Government agency that regulates all medical devices and drugs.
- ULNA
- The medial and the larger of the two bones of the forearm.
- ULTRASOUND
- The use of high-frequency sound to create images of internal body structures.
- VAGUS NERVE
- The tenth cranial nerve, which is a mixed nerve that has both motor and sensory function. The long nerve in the anterior neck traveling with the carotid artery; responsible for many organ functions in the chest and abdomen.
- VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION (VNS)
- Therapy for epilepsy which applies small electrical pulses to the vagus nerve in the neck which regulates internal organs. This therapy is used in patients suffering from partial epilepsy who have failed traditional drug therapy.
- VALVE
- Device placed in a shunt system to regulate the rate and direction of CSF flow.
- VASCULAR
- Relating to or containing blood vessels.
- VASOCONSTRICTION
- A decrease in the diameter of blood vessels.
- VASODILATATION
- An increase in the diameter of blood vessels.
- VASOPRESSIN
- A hormone secreted by the hypothalamus and stored in the posterior pituitary which raises blood pressure and increases reabsorption of water by the kidneys.
