Sigmoidoscopy
A procedure in which a physician inserts a viewing tube (sigmoidoscope) into the rectum for the purpose of inspecting the lower colon and rectum. If an abnormal area is detected, a biopsy can be performed.
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- Sigmoidoscopy, flexible
Inspection of the inside of the rectum and lower part of the colon using a thin flexible lighted tube (a flexible sigmoidoscope). This procedure may be done to find the cause of diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, intestinal bleeding or look for polyps or cancer. With flexible sigmoidoscopy, the physician can see bleeding, inflammation, abnormal growths, […]
- Sign
Any objective evidence of disease, as opposed to a symptom, which is, by nature, subjective. For example, gross blood in the stool is a sign of disease; it is evidence that can be recognized by the patient, physician, nurse, or someone else. Abdominal pain is a symptom; it is something only the patient can perceive.
- Sign, Babinski
Joseph Francois Felix Babinski (1857-1932). His name will never be forgotten in medicine, thanks to the Babinski sign.
- Sign, Gottron
A scaly, patchy redness over the knuckles seen in patients with dermatomyositis, an inflammatory muscle disorder. (See polymyositis).
- Sign, Kernig
A clinical hallmark of meningitis, inflammation of the meninges, the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The test for Kernig sign is done by having the person lie supine (flat on the back), flex the thigh so that it is at a right angle to the trunk, and completely extend the leg at the […]