Generality
In medicine, contraindications are those circumstances that make a particular therapy or a particular diagnostic procedure inadvisable; the reason for this precaution lies in the negative or highly negative consequences that could arise from the implementation of a particular therapy or diagnostic procedure.
What are the contraindications?
The contraindications are all those conditions that make a particular therapy or a particular diagnostic procedure inadvisable, since from its realization could derive negative consequences, if not even a (further) life-threatening for the interested subject.
When it comes to contraindications, the nodal point, around which the whole discussion is centered, is the balance between risks and benefits . In fact, the typical question asked by physicians is: is this kind of therapy or diagnostic procedure more risky than the benefits that can derive from it?
There are two types of contraindications: absolute contraindications and relative contraindications .
Absolute contraindications
In medicine, those conditions in which all the conditions for undertaking a specific medical action for diagnostic-therapeutic purposes are lacking are called absolute contraindications .
In other words, the term absolute contraindication refers to a state of health, the presence of which categorically excludes being able to intervene with a certain treatment or carry out a specific diagnostic investigation.
Examples to understand:
- The young age represents an absolute contraindication to the administration of aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid), since the latter, in children and adolescents under the age of 16, may be responsible for the so-called Reye's syndrome .
- The presence of metallic components inside the human body (pacemakers, neurostimulatory devices, splinters in the eye, intracranial clips for a brain aneurysm, hearing aids etc.) represents an absolute contraindication to nuclear magnetic resonance, as the latter, for effect of the magnetic fields to which it gives rise, could cause the displacement of the aforementioned metal components and alter the operation of the aforementioned devices.
- The presence of agenesis of the cochlea or auditory nerve represents a contraindication to the cochlear implant, since the latter works only in the presence of the aforementioned anatomical structures of the inner ear.
TEMPORARY ABSOLUTE CONTRAINDICATIONS
Some conditions that make a certain therapy absolutely impossible or a certain diagnostic procedure are temporary, either because they are treatments of a certain duration or because they are pathologies that require a specific period of time to heal.
To refer to these circumstances, the doctors coined the term of absolute temporary contraindications .
Examples to understand:
- The presence of esophageal varices is an absolute temporary contraindication to the use of the nasogastric tube, as well as the presence of a stenosis of the esophagus .
In fact, with the healing of the two aforementioned medical conditions, it is possible to introduce, through the esophagus, the thin tube, which makes up the nasogastric tube, and take it to its destination.
- The presence of bone fractures and a recent surgical operation represent two typical temporary absolute contraindications to the practice of massage therapy .
In fact, with bone welding, for the first case, and with the healing of surgical wounds, for the second case, any ban on the therapeutic message of the muscles, carried out with the hands, is lost.
- Cervicitis and vulvovaginitis are two inflammatory conditions, which cover the role of temporary absolute contraindications to colposcopy, as long as they are not completely healed.
Performing colposcopy in spite of a cervicitis or a vulvovaginitis is annoying for the affected woman and can significantly alter the outcome of the aforementioned diagnostic procedure.
Relative contraindications
In the medical field, those conditions in the presence of which a specific diagnostic or therapeutic procedure is inadvisable do not take the name of contraindications, unless there are more important circumstances, so the fact to abstain from the aforementioned procedure is more risky than performing it.
In other words, the relative contraindication term indicates a state of health, the presence of which excludes a certain therapy or a certain diagnostic examination, unless another circumstance arises which makes it essential to carry out the aforementioned therapy or aforementioned diagnostic examination.
Examples to understand:
- X-rays are contraindicated in case of pregnancy (NB: pregnancy is the contraindication), unless a pregnant woman complains of serious disorders, the causes of which can be identified only with an X-ray and whose negligence could be responsible, according to the doctor, of serious consequences on the patient's health.
- The presence of metal prostheses and the presence of metal sutures in sites other than the brain represent two contraindications relating to nuclear magnetic resonance . These contraindications, in fact, lapse in the face of reasonable reasons why not carrying out a diagnostic investigation, through MRI, could have serious repercussions and delay a vital treatment.
- Heart diseases and infections of the upper airways (eg, sinusitis) are among the contraindications related to the hyperbaric chamber . These contraindications, in fact, fail when the supply of pure oxygen becomes vital.
