Embolization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The method of intentionally obstructing blood flow by infusing materials into vessels serves various therapeutic aims
2. The technique that involves introducing substances into the bloodstream to block blood flow for therapeutic reasons can be crucial in treating certain conditions
3. A medical intervention that deliberately blocks blood vessels by injecting substances to stop blood flow for treatment purposes

Etymology: Embolization is a modern medical coinage, and its parts are easy to trace. The root is the Greek "embolos", meaning a stopper, plug or wedge, which comes from "emballein", to throw in or insert. Ancient Greek gave English the raw material, but the medical word itself was built much later, from "embolus" (a plug carried in the blood) plus the suffix "-ation", which turns an action into a noun. Dictionaries record "embolism" for a blockage in a blood vessel by a travelling clot or bubble by the mid-1800s, and "embolization" followed as the term for deliberately producing such a blockage. The surprise is the direction of the idea. What was once a dangerous accident, a clot lodged where it should not be, was turned into a tool. Clinicians learned that blocking a vessel on purpose can starve a tumour, seal off a bleeding artery or shut down an abnormal blood vessel tangle, so the word that once named a fatal event now names a planned procedure.

Synonyms: obstruction, blockage, occlusion, impediment, interruption

Antonyms: patency, clearness, openness, access, flow