catheter

Beginner 🏥 Healthcare / Medical

Definition

A thin, flexible tube inserted into body cavities for various medical purposes—administering drugs, draining fluids, or creating access points that make doctors' jobs easier and patients uncomfortable. The urinary catheter is the most infamous variety, but these tubes show up everywhere from hearts to bladders. It's medical plumbing for the human body.

Example Usage

After surgery, the catheter was the least dignified part of recovery, though the hospital gown was a close second.

Source: Medical terminology

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