the.com/cannula
The tiny tube that lets hospitals politely invade your veins.
means A thin, flexible tube inserted into a vein or body cavity to deliver fluids, drugs, or oxygen, or to drain something out.
from Straight from Latin cannula, 'little reed' or 'little pipe' — the diminutive of canna, 'reed' or 'cane' (the same root that gives us 'cane' and 'canal'). Roman and later medical writers used canna for hollow surgical tubes, and the diminutive stuck as the word for the smaller, finer ones — so your IV line is, etymologically, just a tiny reed slipped under the skin.
- name origin
- latin for little reed
- not a needle
- needle inserts it, then slides back out
- color coded
- size shown by cap color, orange is huge
- dual purpose
- delivers fluids or drugs, draws blood too