lavage
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: - The washing out of a hollow organ (especially the stomach) by flushing with water: A medical procedure involving the irrigation or cleansing of a body cavity, most commonly the stomach, with a stream of water or other fluid.
Usage
- Medical Procedure: The term is almost exclusively used in a medical or clinical context to describe a therapeutic or diagnostic cleansing procedure.
- Common Contexts: It is most frequently associated with gastric lavage (stomach pumping) but can apply to other organs like the bowel or peritoneal cavity.
Examples
- The emergency room team performed a lavage on the patient who had ingested poison.
- After the overdose, gastric lavage was necessary to remove the toxic substance from her stomach.
- The procedure, known as bronchoalveolar lavage, involves washing out a small part of the lung to collect fluid for analysis.
Advanced Usage
- Diagnostic Lavage: Used not only for treatment (e.g., removing poison) but also for diagnosis, where the flushed fluid is collected and analyzed for cells, pathogens, or other markers.
- Specific Types: The word is often preceded by an adjective specifying the organ, forming common medical compound terms.
- Peritoneal lavage: Washing of the abdominal cavity.
- Bronchial lavage: Cleansing of the bronchial tubes.
Variants and Related Words
- Lavage is used as a noun. The related verb is lavage, though it is less common.
- Verb (rare): "The surgeon will lavage the wound with saline."
- Irrigation: A more general synonym for washing out a body cavity or wound.
- Lavation: A formal or archaic term for the act of washing.
Synonyms
- Irrigation: The process of washing out a body cavity, wound, or tube.
- Flushing: The act of cleaning with a flow of liquid.
- Rinsing: Washing lightly with water or another liquid.
Related Phrases/Compounds (Not Phrasal Verbs)
- Gastric lavage: The specific procedure of washing out the stomach.
- Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL): A procedure to collect fluid from the small airways and alveoli of the lungs.
- Peritoneal lavage: The irrigation of the peritoneal cavity in the abdomen.
Notes on Meaning
- Primary Meaning: The core meaning is a therapeutic or diagnostic medical wash. It is a technical term not used in everyday conversation.
- No Figurative Use: The word does not have common idiomatic or figurative meanings outside of its strict medical application.
Noun
- washing out a hollow organ (especially the stomach) by flushing with water