Medical Term:
balloon
Pronunciation: bă-lūn′
Definition:
- An inflatable spheric or ovoid device used to retain tubes or catheters in, or provide support to, various body structures.
- A distensible device used to stretch or occlude a viscus or blood vessel.
- To distend a body cavity with a gas or fluid to facilitate its examination, dilate a structure, occlude a lumen, or create a space for a retroperitoneal, laparoscopic procedure.
[Fr. ballon, fr. It. ballone, fr. balla, ball, fr. Germanic]
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Examples: glitazone, GI cocktail, etc.
