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Many

surgical procedure Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means

stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of Human, humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The Ancient Greek name for the stomach is ''gaster'' which is used as ''gastric'' in medical t ...

. Thus, ''gastrectomy'' refers to the surgical removal of the stomach (or sections thereof). "Otomy" means cutting into a part of the body; a ''gastrotonomy'' would be cutting into, but not necessarily removing, the stomach. In addition, "pharyngo" means pharynx, "laryngo" means larynx, "esophag" means esophagus. Thus, "pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy" refers to the surgical removal of the three. 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.

List of common surgery terms

Prefixes

* ''mono-'' : one, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

μόνος, ', "only, single" * ''angio-'' : related to a blood vessel, from the Greek αγγήϊον ', "vessel", "container", "pot" * ''arthr-'' : related to a joint, from the Greek άρθρον, ', "joint" * ''bi-'' : two, from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

prefix *''bi'', meaning "two". * ''colono-'' : related to large intestine colon, from the latin ', "clause f a poem, itself from the Greek κωλον, ''cōlon'', "clause, member, part" * ''colpo-'' : related to the

vagina In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

, from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

κόλπος, ', meaning "hollow space", but also a synonym for "womb" * ''cysto-'' : related to the

bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...

, from the Greek κύστις, ', "bladder, pouch" * ''encephal-'' : related to the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

, from the Ancient Greek , ' itself from εν, ''en'', "in", and , , meaning 'head'. * ''gastr-'' : related to

, from the Greek γαστήρ, ', "stomach" * ''hepat-'' : related to the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

, from the latin ', from the latin ', Greek loanword, originally ηπαρ, ', meaning "liver" * ''hyster-'' : related to the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...

, from Neo-Latin ''hysteria'', itself ultimately from the Greek ύστέρα, ', meaning "womb, uterus" * ''lamino-'' : related to the

lamina Lamina may refer to: People * Saa Emerson Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician * Tamba Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician and diplomat Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathem ...

(posterior aspect of vertebra) * ''lapar-'' : related to the abdominal cavity ** Etymology actually refers to soft, fleshy part of abdominal wall. The term ''celio-'' is generally considered more accurate and more commonly used in America. * ''lobo-'' : related to a lobe (of the

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

), from the latin ', ablative declension of ', itself from the Greek λοβός, ', "lobe", "pea-pod" * ''mammo-'' and ''masto-'': related to the

breasts The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

, from the latin ''mammas'', "breast", and Greek μάσταζ ''mástaz'', "chewer" * ''myo-'' : related to

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

tissue, from the Greek μυς, ''mús'', from μύσκυλος ', "little mouse", so called because the Greeks believed that muscles looked like little mice. * ''nephro-'' : related to the

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

from the Greek νεφρόν, ', accusative declension of νεφρός, ''kidney'' * ''oophor-'' : related to the

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

, from ωοφόρος, ', meaning "egg-bearing" * ''orchid-'' : related to the

testicles A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone. The ...

, from the latin ', itself from the Greek όρχις, ', meaning "testicle" or sometimes "orchid" so called because the Greeks believed

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

roots looked like testicles. * ''rhino-'' : related to the

nose A nose is a sensory organ and respiratory structure in vertebrates. It consists of a nasal cavity inside the head, and an external nose on the face. The external nose houses the nostrils, or nares, a pair of tubes providing airflow through the ...

, from the Greek ρινός ', genitive declension of ρίς ', "nose" * ''thoraco-'' : related to the

chest The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

* ''vas-'' : related to a duct, usually the

vas deferens The vas deferens (: vasa deferentia), ductus deferens (: ductūs deferentes), or sperm duct is part of the male reproductive system of many vertebrates. In mammals, spermatozoa are produced in the seminiferous tubules and flow into the epididyma ...

, from the latin ', meaning "vessel", or "vein"

Suffixes

* ''-centesis'' : surgical puncture * ''-tripsy'' : crushing or breaking up * ''-desis'' : fusion of two parts into one, stabilization * ''-ectomy'' : surgical removal ''(see List of -ectomies)''. The term 'resection' is also used, especially when referring to a

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

. * ''-opsy'' : looking at * ''-oscopy'' : viewing of, normally with a scope * ''-ostomy'' or ''-stomy'' : surgically creating a hole (a new "mouth" or "

stoma In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...

", from the Greek στόμα (''stóma''), meaning "body", see List of -ostomies) * ''-otomy'' or ''-tomy'' : surgical incision ''(see List of -otomies)'' * ''-pexy'' : to fix or secure * ''-plasty'' : to modify or reshape (sometimes entails replacement with a prosthesis), from the Ancient Greek πλάστος, ''plástos'', meaning "molded". * ''-rrhaphy'' : to strengthen, usually with suture

External links

Multimedia Manual of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Surgical procedures and techniques

List of common surgery terms

Prefixes

Suffixes

See also

External links