Definition of Ballottement
1. Noun. A palpatory technique for feeling a floating object in the body (especially for determining the position of a fetus by feeling the rebound of the fetus after a quick digital tap on the wall of the uterus).
Definition of Ballottement
1. Noun. (medicine) A method of diagnosing pregnancy, in which the uterus is pushed with a finger to feel whether a foetus moves away and returns again. ¹
2. Noun. (medicine) An increased amount of fluid in the suprapatellar pouch of the knee. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Ballottement
1. 1. Manoeuvre used in physical examination to estimate the size of an organ not near the surface, particularly when there is ascites, by a flicking motion of the hand or fingers similar to that of dribbling a basketball. 2. An obsolete method of diagnosis of pregnancy: with the tip of the forefinger in the vagina, a sharp tap is made against the lower segment of the uterus; the foetus, if present, is tossed upward and (if the finger is retained in place) will be felt to strike against the wall of the uterus as it falls back. Origin: Fr. Balloter, to toss up (05 Mar 2000)
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Lexicographical Neighbors of Ballottement
Literary usage of Ballottement
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Principles and practice of obstetrics by Gunning S. Bedford (1869)
"... Fœtus — Illustration — ballottement or Passive Movement of Fœtus — Rules for
Detecting — Positions of Fœtus and ballottement — Pulsations of Fœtal Heart ..."
2. On the theory and practice of midwifery by Fleetwood Churchill (1853)
"ballottement.—A vaginal examination will enable us to ascertain not merely the
state of the cervix, but also to decide upon the presence of a fœtus, ..."
3. A Manual of Obstetrics by Albert Freeman Africanus King (1907)
"Internal ballottement, «cnii-recumbent position, at sixth month. (jF.wnr. ...
tried when we fail to recognize ballottement in other [»stures. ..."
4. A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Midwifery: Including the Diseases of by Pierre Cazeaux (1878)
"istance, and I found it impossible to detect any portion of the fœtus, or to
perform the ballottement. From this single fact I suspected an insertion of the ..."
5. The Obstetric catechism: Containing Two Thousand Three Hundred and Forty by Joseph Warrington (1860)
"By percussion, auscultation, and ballottement: 1. ... ballottement, cannot
recognise the existence of a body moveable in a fluid, within the cavity of the ..."
6. The Principles and practice of midwifery with some of the diseases of women by Alexander Milne (1884)
"Cessation of menstruation. Morning sickness. Quickening. Mammary sympathies; milk
in breast. Enlargement of abdomen. ballottement. Uterine souffle. ..."
7. The Science and Art of Midwifery by William Thompson Lusk (1896)
"Salivation.—Breasts.—Increase of ab<l<>iiu>n.—('Inniges of the os and
cervix.—Quickening.—ballottement.—Fetid heart-beat.—Uterine bruit.—Funic souffle. ..."
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