debridement

noun de·bride·ment \ di-ˈbrēd-mənt , dā- , -ˌmänt , dā-brēd-ˈmäⁿ \

|Updated on: 19 Jul 2018

Definition of debridement

medical

: the usually surgical removal of lacerated, devitalized, or contaminated tissue

—

debride

play \di-ˈbrēd, dā-\ transitive verb

Recent Examples of debridement from the Web

The Polish government insists its actions are a necessary debridement of the judiciary’s rotten corpus.

— tunku varadarajan, WSJ, "If America Is Divided, So Is Europe," 6 July 2018
Canares sedated Joe, who required the removal of dead and contaminated skin, a procedure called debridement.

— meredith cohn, baltimoresun.com, "With 4th of July come warnings about dangers from fireworks," 28 June 2018
The team said Thursday that Nowitzki underwent a procedure to clear out unhealthy tissue, called surgical debridement.

— Houston Chronicle, "Dirk Nowitzki's 20th season with Mavericks ends early after surgery," 5 Apr. 2018
Frank Jackson medical update: The Pelicans announced on Monday that rookie guard Frank Jackson will miss the rest of the season after undergoing a successful scar tissue removal, debridement and injection to his right foot.

— william guillory, NOLA.com, "3 games, 3 nights: Pelicans prepare for rare homestand with playoffs in the balance," 20 Mar. 2018
Some research efforts are focusing on enzymatic debridement techniques that help eradicate dead or necrotic tissue more rapidly and maybe – maybe – less painfully.

— sandy bauers, Philly.com, "5 questions with an expert in healing the most painful of injuries," 10 Oct. 2017
Medically, the difference between a rotator cuff debridement (trimming) versus true repair is the difference between mowing the lawn and laying down new sod.

— profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Minicamp inactivity doesn't throw off prognosis for Cam Netwon," 13 June 2017
In the meantime, Ryu underwent a debridement procedure on his left elbow last year and worked through an injury to his left groin in camp.

— Orange County Register, "Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu throws two scoreless innings in spring training debut," 11 Mar. 2017
Infielder Hanser Alberto had shoulder surgery on Monday to repair rotator cuff debridement.

— stefan stevenson, star-telegram.com, "Hanser Alberto likely to miss rest of 2017 after shoulder surgery," 20 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debridement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of debridement

French débridement, from débrider to remove adhesions, literally, to unbridle, from Middle French desbrider, from des- de- + bride bridle, from Middle High German brīdel — more at bridle

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1842

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year