aseptic fever

aseptic fever,

a fever not associated with infection. Mechanical trauma, as in a crushing injury, can cause fever even when no pathogenic microorganism is present. Although the exact mechanism is not understood, fever in such cases is believed to result from the breakdown of leukocytes or the absorption of avascular tissue.

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aseptic

free from infection or septic material; sterile.

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aseptic fever

fever in the absence of infection, e.g. due to trauma, surgical manipulation of tissue, tissue necrosis, injection of certain chemicals, e.g. dinitrophenols.

aseptic necrosis of the femoral head

see legg-calvé-perthes disease.

aseptic technique

required for modern day veterinary surgery, especially orthopedic surgery. Includes a dust-free environment, complete immobilization of the patient, intensive skin preparation, capping, gowning, masking and gloving of the surgeon and assistants, draping and packing of the patient, proper equipment for removal of blood and other liquids and avoidance of the introduction of nonsterile items such as x-rays, stomach tubes, restraint gear into the sterile field.

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fever

1. an abnormally high body temperature; pyrexia. See also hyperthermia.

2. any disease characterized by marked increase of body temperature. See body temperature.

For diseases characterized by fever, see the eponymic or descriptive name: e.g. african swine, bovine petechial, canicola, cat-scratch disease, desert, ephemeral, equine intestinal ehrlichiosis, classical swine fever(hog cholera), malignant catarrhal fever, malta, mediterranean coast, q, rift valley, rocky mountain spotted, Russian spring-summer encephalitis, tickborne, tularemia, undulant. milk fever is not accompanied by pyrexia.

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aseptic fever

fever associated with aseptic wounds, presumably due to the disintegration of leukocytes or to the absorption of avascular or traumatized tissue.

central fever

sustained fever resulting from damage to the thermoregulatory centers of the hypothalamus.

chemical fever

fever caused by the intake of a sterile substance, e.g. the injection of a foreign protein, the administration of dinitrophenols.

continued fever, continuous fever

persistently elevated body temperature, showing no or little variation and never falling to normal during any 24-hour period.

intermittent fever

an attack of fever, with recurring paroxysms of elevated temperature separated by intervals during which the temperature is normal.

remittent fever

elevated body temperature showing fluctuation each day, but never falling to normal.

septic fever

see septic fever.

Shar Pei fever

see familial renal amyloidosis.

fever of unknown origin (FUO)

a recognized clinical syndrome of persistently (>2 weeks) elevated body temperature (>104°F) and without other signs. Causes include infections, neoplasia, immune-mediated diseases, and drug reactions.