Caudal
Caudal: An anatomic term meaning 1. Pertaining to the tail or the hind part. 2. Situated in or directed toward the tail or hind part. 3. Inferior to another structure, in the sense of being below it.
Caudal is also short for caudal epidural anesthesia.
The terms caudal and caudad are both derived from the Latin cauda, tail. For a more complete listing of terms used in medicine for spatial orientation, please see the entry to “Anatomic Orientation Terms”.
Read Also:
- Caudal anesthesia
Caudal anesthesia: Anesthesia produced by injection of a local anesthetic into the caudal canal, the sacral portion of the spinal canal. Caudal anesthesia is used to provide anesthesia and analgesia (pain relief) below the umbilicus. It may be the sole anesthetic or combined with general anesthesia. Also known as caudal epidural anesthesia or a caudal […]
- Caudate nucleus
Caudate nucleus: In each hemisphere of the brain, the most medial of the four basal ganglia, partly responsible for body movement and coordination. So named because it looks anatomically tail-like (the Latin cauda, tail).
- Caul
Caul: Folk term for the membranes that surround the fetus in the womb, particularly for the presence of these membranes over the newborn infant’s face or head at birth, a relatively common and usually harmless occurrence. In some cultures, the presence of a caul at birth is considered spiritually significant.
- Cauliflower ear
An acquired deformity of the external ear to which wrestlers and boxers are particularly vulnerable, due to trauma. When a blood clot (hematoma) forms under the skin of the ear, the clot disrupts the connection of the skin to the ear cartilage. The cartilage has no other blood supply except from the overlying skin, so […]
- Cauliflower-ear deformity
Destruction of the underlying cartilage framework of the outer ear (pinnae), usually caused by either infection or trauma, resulting in a thickening of the ear. Classically, blood collects (hematoma) between the ear cartilage and the skin. There is a marked thickening of the entire ear which may be so extensive that the shape of the […]