Canadian Medical Guide > Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment > Therapeutics > Drug Therapy Terms and Definitions
Drug Therapy
Medical Definition: | |
Guide Notes: | GEN only: prefer /drug ther with disease term: Manual 19.7+, 19.8.26; note X ref CHEMOTHERAPY: prefer specific chem or chem group, e.g., chemotherapy of lymphoma = LYMPHOMA /drug ther + ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS /ther use, not DRUG THERAPY; DF: DRUG THER |
Chelation Therapy - Therapy of heavy metal poisoning using agents which sequester the metal from organs or tissues and bind it firmly within the ring structure of a new compound which can be eliminated from the body. | |
Drug Delivery Systems - Systems for the delivery of drugs to target sites of pharmacological actions. Technologies employed include those concerning drug preparation, route of administration, site targeting, metabolism, and toxicity. | |
Drug Therapy, Combination - Drug therapy with two or more drugs given separately for a combined effect. | |
Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted - Adjunctive computer programs in providing drug treatment to patients. | |
Fluid Therapy - Therapy whose basic objective is to restore the volume and composition of the body fluids to normal with respect to water-electrolyte balance. Fluids may be administered intravenously, orally, by intermittent gavage, or by hypodermoclysis. | |
Home Infusion Therapy - Use of any infusion therapy on an ambulatory, outpatient, or other non-institutionalized basis. | |
Hormone Replacement Therapy - Therapeutic use of hormones to alleviate the effects of hormone deficiency. | |
Medication Errors - Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication with the result that the patient fails to receive the correct drug or the indicated proper drug dosage. | |
Orthomolecular Therapy - The use of very large doses of vitamins or other naturally occurring substances normally present in the body, frequently for the treatment of mental disorders. | |
Pleurodesis - The production of adhesions between the parietal and visceral pleura. The procedure is used in the treatment of bronchopleural fistulas, malignant pleural effusions, and pneumothorax and often involves instillation of chemicals or other agents into the pleural space causing, in effect, a pleuritis that seals the air leak. (From Fishman, Pulmonary Diseases, 2d ed, p2233 & Dorland, 27th ed) | |
Polypharmacy - The use of multiple drugs administered to the same patient, most commonly seen in elderly patients. It includes also the administration of excessive medication. Since in the United States most drugs are dispensed as single-agent formulations, polypharmacy, though using many drugs administered to the same patient, must be differentiated from DRUG COMBINATIONS, single preparations containing two or more drugs as a fixed dose, and from DRUG THERAPY, COMBINATION, two or more drugs administered separately for a combined effect. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992) | |
Premedication - Preliminary administration of a drug preceding a diagnostic, therapeutic, or surgical procedure. The commonest types of premedication are antibiotics (ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS) and anti-anxiety agents. It does not include PREANESTHETIC MEDICATION. | |
Prescriptions, Drug - Directions written for the preparation and adminstration of a drug. | |
Sclerotherapy - Treatment of varicose veins, hemorrhoids, gastric and esophageal varices, and peptic ulcer hemorrhage by injection or infusion of chemical agents which cause localized thrombosis and eventual fibrosis and obliteration of the vessels. | |
Self Administration - Administration of a drug or chemical by the individual under the direction of a physician. It includes administration clinically or experimentally, by human or animal. | |
Self Medication - The self administration of medication not prescribed by a physician or in a manner not directed by a physician. | |
Thrombolytic Therapy - Use of infusions of fibrinolytic agents to destroy or dissolve thrombi in blood vessels or bypass grafts. |
Drug Therapy Medical Definitions and Terms
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