Word parts
What it means
Describes the intestines or things that pass through them. An enteric-coated tablet has a coating that keeps it from dissolving in the stomach, so it dissolves later in the small intestine. Enteral nutrition is feeding through the gut, by mouth or a feeding tube. Enteric germs are ones spread through stool.
For the nurse
Never crush, split or chew an enteric-coated tablet: that removes the coating, so the drug can upset the stomach or be broken down by stomach acid.
Related terms
enteral nutrition
Liquid nutrition given through a tube into the stomach or small intestine.