General Medical Terms

Surgery to rebuild the rectum (the last several inches of the large intestine before the anus) using a section of the colon.

Recur means to happen again after a period of improvement or absence, describing the return of a symptom, condition, or disease.

The fruit of the jujube plant.

The inner bark of this plant has been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems.

Reduction most often describes restoring a broken bone or dislocated joint to its normal position, though the word also carries a distinct chemistry meaning.

A condition labeled refractory has not responded as expected to treatment, prompting reconsideration of the diagnosis or a change in approach.

Regeneration occurs at different rates across the body, from the liver's substantial capacity to regrow tissue to the limited repair seen in nervous system injury.

Whatever the specialty, the word draws a boundary around one area, and the specialty itself decides where that boundary falls.

A temporary loss of feeling or awareness in a part of the body, such as an arm or a leg, caused by special drugs or other substances called anesthetics.

In oncology, a lymph node that drains lymph from the region around a tumor.

Three fields borrowed the same Latin idea of going backward, and the meanings that resulted have almost nothing to do with each other.

Whether something has come back or merely resurfaced depends on whether it ever truly left, which the word alone does not settle.

A measure of the odds of an event happening in one group compared to the odds of the same event happening in another group.

A measure of the risk of a certain event happening in one group compared to the risk of the same event happening in another group.

A method used to reduce tension and anxiety, and control pain.

Recorded in a psychosocial history because it shapes how illness is understood, which support helps, and which decisions feel acceptable.

A description of what tests and examination can find, which is why complete remission is not the same word as cure.

The main blood vessel that supplies blood to a kidney and its nearby adrenal gland and ureter.

The fibrous connective tissue that surrounds each kidney.

The most common type of kidney cancer.