IRRIGATION (z4475)

IRRIGATION (from Latin irrigatio - watering, conducting water), a term applied to a series of procedures related to irrigation using a stream of water or other liquid. Medicine distinguishes between continuous and periodic irrigation. Continuous irrigation is the prolonged passage of a stream over the surface of inflamed tissue. Irrigation is widely used in surgery (irrigation of wound surfaces, irrigation of the rectum, etc.) and in a number of disciplines related to surgery, such as urology, gynecology, and others. Ordinary washings of the bladder through a catheter are sometimes called irrigation. This is also the origin of the name for irrigation cystoscopes and urethroscopes. However, the most common use of the term irrigation is to denote washing of the urethra without a catheter. The liquid is introduced into the canal using an irrigator placed at a certain height or a syringe. Washings of the entire canal, used in the treatment of acute gonorrheal urethritis, are called washings according to the method of Janet.