• A technique in which a hollow, flexible tube is used to drain body fluids or to introduce fluids into the body, or to examine or widen a narrowed vein or artery.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Heading term for the use or insertion of a tubular device into a duct, blood vessel, hollow organ, or body cavity for injecting or withdrawing fluids; for catheterization with diagnostic purposes use narrower term DIAGNOSTIC CATHETERIZATION; also consider heart or urinary catheterization.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• Use or insertion of a tubular device into a duct, blood vessel, hollow organ, or body cavity for injecting or withdrawing fluids for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. It differs from INTUBATION in that the tube here is used to restore or maintain patency in obstructions.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• Catheterization, Threading of a flexible tube (catheter) through a channel in the body to inject drugs or a contrast medium, measure and record flow and pressures, inspect structures, take samples, diagnose disorders, or clear blockages. A cardiac catheter, passed into the heart through an artery...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025