What it means
The way the body gets rid of what it does not need. Waste leaves mainly in urine and stool, and also through the lungs and sweat. In pharmacology, excretion is the last step of how the body handles a drug, after absorption, distribution and metabolism. Most drugs leave through the kidneys, so poor kidney function lets them build up.
For the nurse
Check kidney function (creatinine, urine output) before giving drugs cleared by the kidneys; the dose may need to be lowered.
At a glance
| Spanish | excreción |
|---|
Easy to confuse with
secretion
A substance a gland or cell makes and releases, such as mucus, saliva, sweat or a hormone.
Related terms
renal
Relating to the kidneys.
creatinine
A waste product of muscle that the kidneys remove from the blood; its blood level is used to measure how well the kidneys work.
toxicity
The harm a substance does to the body, or a state in which a drug has built up to a harmful level.
absorption
The taking in of a substance, such as a drug or a nutrient, into the bloodstream.