We are the combination of four hospitals: the General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital and the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. We are part of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus: a world-leading health park where healthcare plays a crucial role.
Patients are the centre and the core of our system. We are professionals committed to quality care and our organizational structure breaks down the traditional boundaries between departments and professional groups, with an exclusive model of knowledge areas.
Would you like to know what your stay at Vall d'Hebron will be like? Here you will find all the information.
The commitment of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital to innovation allows us to be at the forefront of medicine, providing first class care adapted to the changing needs of each patient.
There are four basic parts to treating renal insufficiency.
Controlling arterial pressure, if it is high; levels of urea; the balance of mineral salts (sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium); acidity and anaemia. Analytical testing provides a lot of information which enables the origin and severity of the kidney disease to be established.
A kidney biopsy allows a microscopic study that is often essential. Genetic testing also provides very important information.
There are three different levels of treatment:
a) medical, with the use of medication or hormones to substitute the alterations mentioned. A diet that creates little urea or that contains low levels of potassium, drugs to control excess or lack of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium or acidity. And medication to treat anaemia.
b) extrarenal purification methods: haemodialysis (passing the blood through an external circuit to purify it and filter out toxic substances using a suitable filter), and peritoneal dialysis, during which a solution is circulated inside the patient's peritoneal cavity and is then extracted, taking the toxic substances usually expelled through urine with it.
c) kidney transplant from a living or deceased donor. In this instance, the new kidney takes over the functions of the diseased kidney. How long a kidney graft lasts varies and relies on controlling episodes of organ rejection that may occur after transplant. A young patient with kidney insufficiency may require more than one kidney transplant over their lifetime, although the useful life of these grafts is increasing day by day thanks to new immunosuppressant drugs.
Most strokes occur when the clots pass through a blood vessel or block blood flow in this area, which is called an ischemic stroke.
The treatment for strokes takes several forms, mainly surgical and pharmacological.
Drug therapy aims to dissolve clots obstructing circulation as quickly as possible by using drugs called thrombolytics.
If administered within 3 hours of the onset of the first symptoms, thrombolytics allow us to limit the damage and disability caused by a stroke.
Before administering this treatment, we must:
The drug dissolves the clot that prevents blood circulation in the affected brain area.
The most common risk is cerebral haemorrhage.
Although a migraine cannot be cured, proper treatment can alleviate pain and prevent future occurrences.
Migraines can be alleviated with:
In the first group, there are anti-inflammatory drugs and triptans. Preventive treatment is indicated when migraines are very common or do not respond adequately to symptomatic treatment.
The choice between symptomatic and preventative treatment must be taken by a doctor. It is very important to avoid self-medication, to prevent the onset of chronic daily headaches, which is triggered by abuse of analgesic medication. Prescription-free drugs that are used frequently or in large doses can cause other problems.
The basis for recovery is pharmacological treatment, which has improved a lot in recent years, and the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits.
In terms of treatment, there are several options, such as corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and biological agents, which are used based on the activity or location of the illness, and depending on the complications that may arise.
Most importantly, once the treatment with the specialist has been agreed upon, it should not be stopped, as this would entail relapses and less control over the illness.
Currently, there are two medications that are used to treat Chagas disease: benznidazole and nifurtimox.
In the event of a cardiac and/or digestive disease, specific treatment is required.
Hypoglycaemia usually occurs in people with diabetes, when the level of glucose in the blood falls dangerously low. Hypoglycaemia is when the capillary glycaemia (measured in a drop of blood from the finger) falls below 70 mg/dl. It can occur in the case of an excessive dose of antidiabetic treatment (pills or insulin), due to a decrease or delay in intake of food, an increase in normal exercise or alcohol abuse.
The symptoms of hypoglycaemia are sweating, trembling, chills, hungry sensation, headaches, blurred vision, irritability, dizziness and, in very serious cases, loss of consciousness.
For people who may experience hypoglycaemia, we recommend:
Haemophilia is a disease that is characterised by the presence of haemorrhages, and is caused by a deficiency of a coagulation factor. Treatment consists of replacing this deficient factor.
Treatment for haemophilia consists of substituting the deficient factor in cases of acute bleeding via intravenous administration, before any aggressive examination or surgical intervention. Factor VIII or IX concentrates can be made from plasmas or by recombining those obtained using biotechnology. In mild cases, other drugs such as desmopressin, a synthetic derivative of vasopressin, can be used.
In severe haemophilia, preventive treatment must be started before the age of two or after the first haemarthrosis to avoid serious joint complications caused by repeated bleeding, and can be used as a preventive treatment of brain haemorrhages. In haemophilia A, factor VIII should be administered three days a week and two times for haemophilia B. New treatments currently in development will allow future infusions to be spaced further apart.
Plasma and recombinant factors are currently effective and safe for the control and prevention of haemorrhages. The most serious complication in treatment is the onset of an inhibitor, and it appears in 30% of cases with severe haemophilia A and between 2% and 4% of haemophilia B cases.
Diabetes is an illness that manifests itself as an increase in blood glucose, which is called hyperglycaemia. There are two types, type 1 and 2.
The goal of treatment of the disease is to reduce it, and maintain normal glucose values in the blood, glycaemia.
To achieve this, there are two types of medication: non-insulin hypoglycaemics and insulin. The non-insulin treatment is used to reduce glycaemia and is only used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, when diet and physical exercise are not enough to regulate the level of sugar in the blood.
Type 1 diabetes must be treated with insulin, a hormone that is essential for life that is normally created by our bodies, and which needs to be replaced when a patient is unable to generate it. Insulin cannot be administered orally meaning it needs to be administered subcutaneously, usually with pre-filled pen injectors.
Although insulin treatment is essential in treating type 1 diabetes, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus may also need it at some point in their illness.
Currently, there are different treatments that can alleviate the signs and symptoms, and, in most cases, cure skin lesions. The dermatology specialist decides the most appropriate treatment for each patient, depending on the type of psoriasis, its location, its extent and severity and the characteristics of the person suffering from it.
There are three types of treatment:
This small device, which is implanted beneath the collarbone thanks to a small incision, sends electrical impulses to the heart so that it can beat at a constant pace.
Pacemakers help regulate the rhythm of the heart when natural stimulation fails, meaning they are used when the heart rate is slower or faster than it should be, with irregular beats, or if there is a blockage in the electrical system of the heart. Normally there are two causes:
There are two types of pacemaker:
The artificial pacemaker consists of an electric impulse generator, the pacemaker, and a conductive cable. To install it, an incision is made in the chest, below the left collarbone.
The cable is inserted into the right atrium or the right ventricle, depending on the disease. If the patient only needs one electrode, it is placed in the right ventricle. If he or she needs two, the other is placed in the right atrium.
We check it is placed properly by means of a radiological procedure and, if everything is correct, it is connected and remains under the skin. Afterwards the incision is sutured.
Once implanted, the electrodes transmit signals to the heart that the device detects as signals, and sends the electrical impulses to the heart to stimulate it rhythmically.
Always carry your European pacemaker patient card with you, as it contains all the information about the type of pacemaker and its settings.
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