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Glite Dictionary
🧪 A lab material 💉 A blood substitute
dextran

dextran

1 7.3
A long chain of sugar made by bacteria and used in medicine to raise blood volume
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛkstræn/
  • Specialized
: dextran
  • In cases of severe dehydration, doctors may administer dextran to restore blood volume.

Examples

  • The doctor explained that dextran could provide support for patients experiencing low blood pressure.

  • The use of dextran has also been suggested as a means of creating a hypervolemic hemodilution, thus causing a decrease in blood viscosity and an increase in cochlear blood flow.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Dextran is often used in medicine to help increase blood volume during surgery.

Surface Forms

dextran singular
dextrans plural

Etymology

Dextran comes from the root dextro- meaning 'right' and the word dextrose, which is a kind of 'sugar'. Because it is a long chain of glucose units, it can act like blood plasma and help restore blood volume during surgery.