What does curettement mean?
Curettement is a noun denoting a surgical procedure in which a spoon-shaped instrument called a curette is used to scrape away tissue from a body cavity or internal surface, most often the lining of the uterus. The term is a recognized variant of the far more common word curettage, and the two are interchangeable in meaning; neither carries any special distinction of technique. In clinical settings, a curettement may be performed to remove residual tissue after a miscarriage, to obtain samples for diagnostic examination, or to treat certain abnormalities of the uterine lining. It is closely associated with the familiar phrase 'dilatation and curettage', often abbreviated D&C, though that phrase typically uses the curettage spelling. Beyond obstetrics and gynecology, similar scraping procedures appear in dermatology and dentistry. For general readers, the word is useful mainly as a formal medical term, and encountering it usually signals a clinical or pathological context rather than everyday speech.
nounA surgical procedure in which a curette is used to scrape or remove tissue from a body cavity or surface, most commonly the uterine lining. It is an alternative, less frequently used term for the more standard 'curettage'.
- The act or procedure of scraping tissue from a body cavity or surface using a curette, especially removal of the uterine lining; a variant of 'curettage'.
"The gynecologist performed a curettement to remove the retained placental tissue."
"Following the miscarriage, she underwent a dilatation and curettement to ensure the uterus was fully emptied."
"The pathology report on the curettement specimen confirmed the diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia."
Rarely pluralized; the plural typically refers to multiple instances of the procedure or multiple specimens.
"The surgeon's records documented several curettements performed over the course of her treatment."
Curettement and curettage mean exactly the same thing — but one word dominates medical literature so completely that many dictionaries list its twin as little more than a footnote.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of curettement
Curettement derives from French, formed from 'curette', the diminutive of 'cure' meaning a scraper or scoop, which in turn traces back through French to Latin 'cura'. It entered English medical vocabulary in the nineteenth century as surgeons adopted French terminology for the newly described scraping procedure, alongside its sibling term curettage. Its cognates include curette and curettage, as well as the broader Latin-derived words curative and curator.
How curettement is actually used
Curettement is chiefly a medical term encountered in clinical and pathological writing, where it may describe both the procedure and the tissue specimen obtained by it. It is considerably less common than its synonym curettage, which is preferred in modern practice and in standard references such as Merriam-Webster. Because the two terms are interchangeable in meaning, readers should not infer any technical difference between them.
Easily confused with curettement
Curettage is the standard, widely used term for the same procedure, while curettement is an accepted but much rarer variant spelling and form.