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.
Below we will list the departments and units that form part of Vall d’Hebron Hospital and the main diseases that we treat. We will also make recommendations based on advice backed up by scientific evidence that has been shown to be effective in guaranteeing well-being and quality of life.
Vols saber com serà la teva estada a l’Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron? Aquí trobaràs tota la informació.
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.
To avoid eczema it is important to take good care of the skin. There are also topical and systemic treatments, which must be indicated by a medical professional.
There are three types of treatments for eczema:
The lung transplant consists of replacing one or two sick lungs with healthy lungs. In general, transplants are carried out when there is a disease that involves severe and progressive chronic respiratory failure. Lung transplants started in 1981 in California. In Catalonia, this type of intervention is carried out exclusively at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, for both children and adults.
Currently, 4,000 lung transplants are carried out every year around the world, including children and adults, especially in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. In the case of Catalonia, nine lung transplants are carried out per million inhabitants, a figure that puts us at the top of the tables. Our experience ranges from month-old babies to 70-year-olds.
Normally, it is a pneumologist with a patient with chronic respiratory insufficiency who contacts the Lung Transplant Unit for both adults and children at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital. From that first point of contact, the patient will be assessed by a multidisciplinary team in order to offer the best option, which might involve a transplant or simply medical treatment. It is important to remember that people who undergo lung transplants need to be strong enough to both wait for the operation and recover from it. This is a fundamental, complex requirement that must be met if the transplant is to provide benefits for the patient.
The survival rates for lung transplants are very positive. More than half of all patients are still alive after five years of the operation, and one in three patients after ten years. However, the goal of specialists is to continue researching to improve these results and prevent chronic rejection, and all the factors that lead to this complication.
Patients undergoing lung transplants must take an immunosuppressive therapy and prophylactics for an extended period of time. Most of these treatments are oral and in some cases may be inhaled.
In order to prevent complications, the medical advice given by your doctor should be followed precisely, avoid stress or over-exertion and make sure you follow the medication plan exactly. Aside from that, you can expect to lead a normal life.
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