The use of a sharp-edged, spoon-shaped surgical instrument called a curette to scrape abnormal tissue, or tissue for analysis, from the lining of a body cavity or from the skin.
n. the scraping of the skin or the internal surface of an organ or body cavity by means of a spoon-shaped instrument (curette), usually to remove diseased tissue or to obtain a specimen for diagnostic purposes (see also dilatation and curettage). Curettage of the skin is combined with cauterization; it may be used for the removal of *basal cell carcinoma, seborrhoeic *keratoses, etc., and usually causes little scarring.
Commonly referred to as D and C, a gynaecological operation to scrape away the lining of the UTERUS (ENDOMETRIUM). The procedure may be used to diagnose and treat heavy bleeding from the womb (ENDOMETRIOSIS) as well as other uterine disorders. It can be used to terminate a pregnancy or to clean out the uterus after a partial miscarriage. D and C is increasingly being replaced with a LASER technique using a hysteroscope – a type of ENDOSCOPE.... dilatation and curettage
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