treat·ment  the management and care of a patient for the purpose of combating disease or disorder. See also under care, maneuver, method, technique, test, and therapy. active treatment, curative t. Carrel treatment, Carrel-Dakin treatment, treatment of wounds, based on thorough exposure of the wound, removal of all foreign material and devitalized tissue, meticulous cleansing, and repeated irrigation with a dilute sodium hypochlorite solution. The adjacent skin is protected with petrolatum gauze. causal treatment, treatment directed against the cause of a disease. conservative treatment, treatment designed to avoid radical medical therapeutic measures or operative procedures; often reserved for elderly or debilitated patients. curative treatment, treatment designed to cure an existing disease, as opposed to palliative t. Called also active t. drug treatment, pharmacotherapy. electroconvulsive treatment, electroshock treatment, see under therapy. empiric treatment, treatment by means which experience has proved to be beneficial. expectant treatment, treatment designed only to relieve untoward symptoms, leaving the cure mainly to nature. fever treatment, pyretotherapy. Goeckerman treatment, treatment of psoriasis by applying ointments of tar followed by irradiation with ultraviolet B. Hartel treatment, alcoholic injection for trigeminal neuralgia in which the needle is passed through the mouth into the region of the foramen ovale of the sphenoid bone. Kenny treatment, a treatment formerly used for poliomyelitis consisting of wrapping of the back and limbs in hot cloths, followed, after pain has subsided, by passive exercise and instruction of the patient in exercise of the muscles. medicinal treatment, pharmacotherapy. neurodevelopmental treatment, Bobath method. Orr treatment, treatment of compound fractures and osteomyelitis by débridement of the wound, alignment of fracture, drainage with petrolatum gauze, and immobilization of limb in a plaster cast which is left on until the wound discharge has softened the plaster. palliative treatment, treatment designed to relieve pain and distress, but not attempting a cure. See also curative t. Called also supportive t. and palliative care. preventive treatment, prophylactic treatment, prophylaxis. rational treatment, treatment based upon a knowledge of disease and the action of the remedies employed. root canal treatment, see under therapy. sewage treatment, the processing of sewage to remove or so alter some of its constituents as to render it less offensive or dangerous and more fit to discharge into a public watercourse. shock treatment, obsolete term for convulsive therapy. slush treatment, the treatment of acne by the application of a mixture of carbon dioxide snow, acetone, and sulfur. specific treatment, treatment particularly adapted to a given disease. supporting treatment, supportive treatment, palliative t. surgical treatment, therapy using chiefly surgical methods. Cf. pharmacotherapy and physical therapy. symptomatic treatment, expectant t. Trueta treatment, immediate treatment of fractures as follows: (1) adopt surgical treatment as soon as possible; (2) thoroughly wash wound and entire limb with water, soap, and a nail brush, shave hair, paint surrounding skin with weak alcoholic solution of iodine, avoiding the wound; (3) débride wound; (4) open neighboring cellular spaces and remove hematomas; (5) remove completely denuded or displaced bone fragments and all foreign matter; (6) reduce fracture; (7) dress wound with sterile gauze and immobilize with plaster, including two adjacent joints if possible; (8) give injection of tetanus antitoxin.