Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

Kb
Kilobase.
KB 1
Keratodermia blennorrhagicum.
2
Ketone
bodies.
Kegel exercises
Exercises designed to increase
muscle strength and elasticity in the female pelvis.
Kegel exercises may be recommended for treatment
of incompetent cervix, vaginal looseness after preg-
nancy and delivery, or urinary incontinence.
keloid
A scar that rises quite abruptly above the
rest of the skin. It is irregularly shaped, usually pink
to red in color, tends to enlarge progressively, and
may be harder than the surrounding skin. Keloids
Kk
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are a response to trauma, such as a cut to the skin.
In creating a normal scar, connective tissue in the
skin is repaired by the formation of collagen. Keloids
arise when extra collagen forms. Susceptibility to
keloids is genetic, and keloids are particularly com-
mon in people of African descent. 
keratectomy
Removal of part of the cornea by
surgical excision or by laser. See also 
keratectomy,
photorefractive.
keratectomy, photorefractive
Laser eye sur-
gery designed to change the shape of the cornea,
reducing or eliminating the need for glasses and
contact lenses. The laser removes the outer layer of
the cornea and then flattens it. This is intended to
correct nearsightedness (myopia) and uneven cur-
vature of the cornea that distorts vision (astigma-
tism). Photorefractive keratectomy is an outpatient
procedure that is done in an office with numbing
eye drops. Abbreviated PRK. The same type of laser
is used for PRK and LASIK. The major difference
between the two surgeries is the way that the
stroma, the middle layer of the cornea, is exposed
before it is vaporized with the laser. In PRK, the top
layer of the cornea, called the epithelium, is scraped
away to expose the stromal layer underneath. In
LASIK, a flap is cut in the stromal layer and the flap
is folded back. See also 
LASIK.