List of Surgical Procedures

List of surgical procedures
Surgical procedures have long and possibly daunting
names. The meaning of many surgical procedure names
can often be understood if the name is broken into parts.
For example in gastrectomy, “ectomy” is a suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. “Gastro-" means
stomach. Thus, gastrectomy refers to the surgical removal
of the stomach (or sections thereof). “otomy” means to
cut into a part of the body; a gastrotomy would be to cut
into, but not necessarily remove, the stomach.

• lobo- : related to a lobe (of the brain or lungs)

The field of minimally invasive surgery has spawned another set of words, such as arthroscopic or laparoscopic
surgery. These take the same form as above; an arthroscope is a device which allows the inside of the joint to
be seen.

• thoraco- : related to the chest

• mammo- and masto-: related to the breast
• myo- : related to muscle tissue
• nephro- : related to the kidney
• oophor- : related to the ovary
• orchid- : related to the testicle

• vas- : related to a duct, usually the vas deferens

1.2 Suffixes

See also: Category:Surgical procedures

• -centesis : surgical puncture

1

• -clasia : crushing or breaking up

List of surgical terms

• -desis : fusion of two parts into one, stabilization

Essentially all medical terms, mostly Latin and Greek,
can be combined to name a surgery. Here is a list of commonly used pre- and suffixes:

1.1

• -ectomy : surgical removal (see List of -ectomies).
The term 'resection' is also used, especially when referring to a tumor.
• -opsy : looking at

Prefixes

• -oscopy : viewing of, normally with a scope

• angio- : related to blood vessels

• -ostomy or -stomy : surgically creating a hole (a new
“mouth” or "stoma")

• arthr- : related to a joint
• bi- : two
• colono- : related to large intestine colon

• -otomy or -tomy : surgical incision (see List of otomies)

• colpo- : related to the vagina

• -pexy : to fix or secure

• cysto- : related to the bladder

• -plasty : to modify or reshape (sometimes entails replacement with a prosthesis)

• encephal- : related to the brain

• -rrhaphy : to strengthen, usually with suture

• gastr- : related to stomach
• hepat- : related to the liver

2 List of surgical procedures

• hyster- : related to the uterus
• lamino- : related to the lamina (posterior aspect of
vertebra)

3 External links
• "In medicine, what’s the difference between an ectomy, an -ostomy, and an -otomy?" at The Straight
Dope

• lapar- : related to the abdominal cavity
• Etymology actually refers to soft, fleshy part
of abdominal wall. The term celio- is probably
more accurate and used in America.

• Medical suffixes
1

2

3
• Multimedia Manual of Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Surgical Procedures

EXTERNAL LINKS

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Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

• List of surgical procedures Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20surgical%20procedures?oldid=611632154 Contributors:
Tarquin, Rsabbatini, Nealmcb, NuclearWinner, CatherineMunro, Angela, Emperorbma, Macarenaman, Lowellian, UtherSRG, Diberri,
Zigger, Jfdwolff, Guanaco, SarekOfVulcan, Cynix, YUL89YYZ, Violetriga, DanP, Richard Cane, R. S. Shaw, Arcadian, Wouterstomp,
Saga City, Sentientmeat, Alison Rowe, Ekem, Chirags, Mad Max, Elkman, Rkthorne, Mark ong, Jrockley, Tulane97, BlackPh0enix, Ppilot737, Olin, Switchercat, Christian75, PizzaMan, Greensburger, Arogersmd, MartinBot, Benwalsh, VolkovBot, Pmedema, Sanfranman59,
Sultec, Flyer22, Huajai, Lechasseur, Stepshep, Rajthapar, SoxBot III, Ironholds, Legobot, DiverDave, FrescoBot, Mokotillon, PhnomPencil, NotWith, Mogism, JoaoMaciel, Nacolwell and Anonymous: 45

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Images

4.3

Content license

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