A kidney dish (

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

) or emesis basin (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

) is a shallow basin with a

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...

-shaped base and sloping walls used in medical and

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

wards to receive soiled dressings and other medical waste. Generally, the volume of a pulp kidney dish (or "vomit dish") is 700 mL. Its length is 25 cm-26 cm, its width 11 cm. The shape of the dish allows it to be held against the patient's body to catch any falling fluids or debris. Various sizes of emesis basins are common in healthcare settings, including facilities such as nursing homes that may have bedridden patients. Reusable kidney dishes are usually made of stainless steel. During the first half of the 20th century, kidney dishes were commonly made of enamelled iron. The disposable version of kidney dishes was invented by Bessie Virginia Blount, and they may be made of paper

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

or plastic. Disposable

molded pulp Molded pulp or molded fiber (also spelled as moulded pulp or moulded fibre) is a packaging material, that is typically made from recycled paperboard and/or newsprint. It is used for protective packaging or for food service trays and beverage c ...

kidney dishes have been replacing reusable kidney dishes because single-use products can decrease cross-communication of pathogens. Each year, more than 100 million pulp kidney dishes are used in hospital or family care.

Uses

Contrary to its name, emesis basins are not usually used for

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteri ...

, as the depth, size, and sloping walls all contribute to spilling or splashing the vomit rather than catching it. For this purpose, a plastic bag or wash basin is often preferred, especially by ambulance crews who may need to receive the vomit while driving rapidly, and then hand it over for analysis. Emesis basins are suited for more controlled situations. When washing out a small wound, for example, sometimes the wash water is applied from above with an emesis basin held underneath to catch the runoff. The

concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set * The concavity of a ...

inner rim helps to conform to the curve of the body.

References

{{Reflist Medical equipment Waste containers