spinal puncture
- noun
- /ˈspaɪnəl ˈpʌŋktʃər/
- Specialized
:
punción espinal
- The doctor performed a spinal puncture to collect cerebrospinal fluid for testing.
Examples
-
A spinal puncture can help diagnose conditions like meningitis by analyzing the fluid obtained.
-
After the spinal puncture, the patient was advised to lie flat for several hours.
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The bacteria were poured into scrapes made on the penises or faces, or even injected by spinal puncture.
Blog text (34)
Synonyms
9
5.8
To remove fluid from the lower back with a needle for testing
5
5.3
A way doctors remove fluid from the lower spine to test or treat brain and nerve problems
How Invasive
- Specialized
12
4.0
- Specialized
- Specialized
4
3.6
131
2.3
- US
49
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is compositional: 'spinal' specifies the location (the spine/spinal cord) and 'puncture' means to pierce, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it involves piercing the spinal area (typically to remove or sample fluid). Although it is a medical/technical term, the meaning follows directly from the constituents and is cross-linguistically predictable.
Etymology
The medical term spinal puncture comes from its literal parts: spinal means the spine area and puncture means to make a small hole with a needle, because a doctor puts a needle into the lower back to take fluid. So the phrase names the medical procedure used to 'diagnose' or 'treat' problems around the brain and spine.