Parenteral

PARENTERAL (from Greek para- meaning around or contrary to, and enteron meaning intestine), a term used mainly in pharmacology and therapeutics to denote the method of introducing medicinal and other substances into the body, bypassing the gastrointestinal tract. All methods of introducing substances under the skin, into the blood, into serous organs, into muscles, etc., can be called parenteral. Substances introduced parenterally usually produce a more intense and rapid general effect than when introduced enterally, since they are absorbed more quickly and in larger quantities and are not destroyed under the influence of digestive juices (for example, curare when introduced enterally does not have a characteristic general effect, but when introduced parenterally it produces it to a marked degree). Therefore, in many cases, when it is necessary to accurately study the effect of a substance on the body, it is desirable to use the parenteral method of administration, especially introduction directly into the blood, since only in the latter case is it possible to accurately account for the administered dose of the substance. In practical medicine, the parenteral method is also often preferable and sometimes the only correct one (for example, when the substance being introduced is not absorbed or is destroyed in the intestine, when particularly precise dosing or a rapid therapeutic effect is needed). Finally, the parenteral method of administering medicinal substances is used in all cases of difficulty swallowing or any obstacles to taking substances by mouth.