Karman cannula

{{short description|Flexible tube used in medical procedures}} The '''Karman cannula''' is a soft, flexible [[cannula]] (or curette) used in medical procedures that was popularized by [[Harvey Karman]] in the early 1970s.<ref>Harvey Karman, Malcolm Potts, "VERY EARLY ABORTION USING SYRINGE AS VACUUM SOURCE", The Lancet, Volume 299, Issue 7759, 1972, Pages 1051-1052, {{doi|10.1016/S0140-6736(72)91225-1}}</ref> The flexibility of the Karman cannula was claimed to reduce the risk of perforating the uterus during [[vacuum aspiration]].<ref name="pmid12179281">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ekwempu CC | title = Uterine aspiration using the Karman cannula and syringe | journal = Tropical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology | volume = 8 | issue = 2 | pages = 37–8 | year = 1990 | pmid = 12179281 }}</ref> Both Karman's procedure, [[menstrual extraction]], and his cannula were embraced by activists [[Carol Downer]] and [[Lorraine Rothman]], who modified the technique in 1971 and promoted it.<ref>{{cite web | title = Self Help Clinic Celebrates 25 Years| url = http://www.fwhc.org/selfhelp.htm | work = Feminist Women's Health Center }}</ref> The "self-help" abortion movement envisioned by Downer and Rothman never entered the mainstream in the U.S. before or after ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''. Physicians sometimes use a Karman cannula in early induced surgical abortion, in treatment of incomplete abortion, and in endometrial biopsy. In 2010, a [[Sri Lanka]]n physician named Geeth Silva was the first physician to use the Karman cannula in the removal of [[Fecal impaction|impacted feces]] from a patient; this was done in [[Columbo]] at the [[Sri Jayawardenepura General Hospital]]. Physicians and other health care providers sometimes use a Karman cannula in "menstrual regulation" vacuum aspiration procedures in developing countries where abortion is illegal (e.g. [[Bangladesh]]).{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}<ref>[https://www.skinoza.co.uk/post/the-use-of-cannulas-in-the-aesthetic-industry The use of Cannulas in the Aesthetic Industry]</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal | vauthors = Suarez RA, Grimes DA, Majmudar B, Benigno BB | title = Diagnostic endometrial aspiration with the Karman cannula | journal = The Journal of Reproductive Medicine | volume = 28 | issue = 1 | pages = 41–4 | date = January 1983 | pmid = 6834346 }} * {{cite journal | vauthors = Adinma JI, Adinma E | title = Karman's cannula and vacuum aspirator in gynecological practice | journal = Journal of the National Medical Association | volume = 88 | issue = 1 | pages = 22–4 | date = January 1996 | pmid = 8583487 | pmc = 2607982 }} {{refend}}

== External links == * [http://www.ipas.org/Products/Flexible_Karman_Cannulae.aspx Flexible Karman Cannulae (Ipas)]

[[Category:Medical equipment]]