Category: T

  • Travel immunization

    Vaccines for protection from disease for Americans traveling outside the United States. Travel immunization involves anticipating exposure to the infectious diseases endemic to a destination and the process of being vaccinated against those potential health hazards before a planned trip to a foreign country. Immunization against a certain number of diseases is advisable when a…

  • Trauma surgery

    Specialized surgery used in emergency care of severe injuries. Trauma surgery is used in cases of extreme injury to provide immediate care to persons who have sustained complex and life-threatening injuries. Traumatology is another name for trauma surgery.  

  • Trauma center

    A hospital-based facility for the treatment of trauma. Trauma centers are specialized facilities designed to provide diagnostic and therapeutic services to people who have sustained a severe injury, or trauma. A center for the emergency and specialized care of patients who are injured. A trauma center may also be used for patients who are critically…

  • Transposition of the great vessels

    A birth defect in which the positions of the pulmonary artery and the aorta are reversed. As a result, blood circulates to and from the body without picking up oxygen in the lungs. Babies born with transposition of the great vessels survive only if an abnormal connection, such as a hole between the two upper…

  • Transplant surgery

    A procedure in which a diseased organ or tissue is replaced with a healthy donor organ. The list of organs that can be transplanted includes the cornea, heart, lungs, kidney, liver, pancreas, small intestine, and bone marrow. The process involves substituting a diseased organ or tissue with a viable, healthy replacement. Typically, the organ is…

  • Transesophageal echocardiogram

    An ultrasound image of the heart made by inserting a small device called a transducer into the esophagus (the tube that connects the throat to the stomach). An echocardiogram bounces ultrasound waves off the heart and into a machine that transforms the echoes into a computer generated image. This allows doctors to see the heart…

  • Tracheostomy

    A small opening, called a stoma, that is made by a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure through the neck and into the trachea, or windpipe. A tracheostomy usually involves the placement of a plastic tube into this opening to provide an airway and permit the removal of secretions from the lungs. The tube allows air to…

  • Tooth eruption

    The emergence of the primary teeth and the permanent teeth as they appear above the gum line. Tooth eruption of the primary teeth generally begins with the bottom central incisors (the front teeth) when an infant is 6 months old and is completed when the second molars come in at the age of about 24…

  • Tooth abscess

    An accumulation of pus that is enclosed in the bone tissue at the tip of the root in a tooth. The cause of a tooth abscess is usually a bacterial infection in the pulp. The infection may originate in untreated tooth decay or in dead pulp tissue inside the tooth. If there is bacteria in…

  • Tongue cancer

    A malignant tumor on the tongue that begins as a small lump or a thick, firm white patch. In time, the lump or patch becomes an ulcer with a firm, raised rim and a sensitive center that may bleed readily. This is a squamous cell carcinoma, meaning that when viewed under the microscope, the cells…