Aspiration means to draw in or out using a sucking motion. This medical term has two meanings, depending on how it is used:

• Aspiration can mean breathing in a foreign object (such as sucking food into the airway).
• The term can also refer to a medical procedure that removes harmful or misplaced substances from an area of the body. These substances can be air, body fluids, or bone fragments. An example is removing ascites fluid from the abdomen.

Aspiration as a medical procedure may also be used to remove tissue samples for a biopsy. This is sometimes called a needle biopsy or aspirate (for example, aspiration of a breast lesion).

Related topics:

• Foreign object in the airway
• Foreign object in the nose
• Aspiration pneumonia

Goldman L, Ausiello D. Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 22nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2004:541-545.

Marrie TJ, Campbell GD, Walker DH, Low DE. Pneumonia. In: Kasper DL, Braunwald E, Fauci AS, et al., eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.16th ed, Chapter 239. McGraw Hill; 2005.

Marx J. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2006:1136.