A thin, flexible tube. For example, a catheter placed in a vein
provides a pathway for giving drugs, nutrients, fluids, or blood products. Samples
of blood can also be withdrawn through the catheter.
T he catheter was created by the Greeks. "Katheter" originally referred to an
instrument that was inserted such as a plug. The word "katheter" in turn came from
"kathiemai" meaning "to sound" with a probe. The ancient Greeks inserted a hollow
metal tube through the urethra into the bladder to empty it and the tube came to
be known as a "katheter."
For specific information about a particular type of catheters or catheterization,
please see:
Central venous catheter
Foley catheter
Indwelling bladder catheter
Swan-Ganz catheter and
Venous catheterization.
Common Misspellings: cathereter, catherter, cathetor
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