What does sufflation mean?
Sufflation is the technical process of introducing air or another gas into a cavity so that it expands. In medicine and veterinary practice, it may be used to distend the stomach, intestines, or another body cavity, allowing examination, imaging, or treatment. Although the word resembles suffocation, its meaning is substantially different: sufflation fills a cavity with gas, while suffocation prevents breathing and can be fatal. The term is uncommon in ordinary conversation and is most likely to appear in technical, clinical, or historical contexts. Its unusual sound makes it especially easy to confuse with related words, so recognizing the explicit idea of controlled inflation or distension is the clearest guide to its meaning.
nounThe act or process of blowing air or gas into a cavity so as to inflate or distend it, especially a body cavity.
- The introduction of air or gas into a cavity to inflate or distend it, especially during a medical or veterinary procedure.
"The physician used controlled sufflation to distend the patient's stomach during the procedure."
"Careful sufflation of the stomach allowed the physician to examine the organ more clearly."
"The technique depends on controlled sufflation of the intestinal cavity."
The countable plural is rare and denotes individual instances or procedures of sufflation.
"The report documented two separate sufflations of the stomach."
Sufflation sounds like suffocation, but it means quite the opposite: deliberately filling a cavity with air.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sufflation come from?
Sufflation comes through English word formation from Latin sufflare, meaning “to blow up” or “inflate,” and sufflatio, a noun denoting the action of blowing into or inflating. The Latin verb belongs to a family that also produced English words such as inflate, deflation, flat, and flatus. In modern usage, sufflation became especially associated with the deliberate introduction of air into a body cavity for medical purposes.
Related word forms
How sufflation is actually used
This is a rare, chiefly medical and veterinary term. It should not be used as a synonym for suffocation, which refers to the obstruction or deprivation of breathing.
Easily confused with sufflation
Sufflation means inflating a cavity with air or gas, whereas suffocation means causing death or unconsciousness by preventing breathing.
Sufflation is the introduction of air or gas into a cavity, while suffusion is the spreading or pouring of a liquid over or through something.