inhalée

Inhalée is the feminine past participle of the French verb inhaler, and functions as an adjective or past participle describing something that has been inhaled. In practice, it is used to indicate that a substance, medication, or exposure has entered the respiratory tract by breathing in, rather than being ingested or absorbed through other routes. It often appears in phrases like "dose inhalée," "médicament inhalé," or "voie inhalée" (the inhalation route). The masculine form is inhalé, and the feminine plural is inhalées.

In pharmacology and therapeutics, inhalation is a common route of administration for drugs such as bronchodilators and corticosteroids, delivered with inhalers or nebulizers. The effectiveness of inhaled medications depends on the device, formulation, and patient technique, including proper inhalation flow and breath-hold. In toxicology, inhalation describes exposure to airborne substances—dust, gases, vapors—that can affect the respiratory system.

The term is primarily grammatical: it does not designate a specific substance itself but the manner of exposure or administration. It may also appear in clinical notes to specify that an observed effect results from an inhaled dose rather than an ingested one.

Etymology: from Latin inhalare, through French. Related terms include inhalation (the inhalation route) and inhalateur (inhaler).