What Is Surgery?

Surgery is a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body; "they will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available."

ablation, cutting out, extirpation, excision is a surgical removal of a body part or tissue

amputation - a surgical removal of all or part of a limb

angioplasty - an operation to repair a damaged blood vessel or unblock a coronary artery

arthroplasty - surgical reconstruction or replacement of a malformed or degenerated joint

arthroscopy - a minimally invasive operation to repair a damaged joint; the surgeon examines the joint with an arthroscope while making repairs through a small incision

brain surgery - any surgical procedure involving the brain

castration - surgical removal of the testes or ovaries (usually to inhibit hormone secretion in cases of breast cancer in women or prostate cancer in men); "bilateral castration results in sterilization"

cauterisation, cauterization, cautery - the act of coagulating blood and destroying tissue with a hot iron or caustic agent or by freezing

chemosurgery - use of chemical to destroy diseased or malignant tissue; used in treatment of skin cancer

craniotomy - a surgical opening through the skull

cryosurgery - the use of extreme cold (usually liquid nitrogen) to destroy unwanted tissue (warts or cataracts or skin cancers)

curettage, curettement - surgery to remove tissue or growths from a bodily cavity (as the uterus) by scraping with a curette

debridement - surgical removal of foreign material and dead tissue from a wound in order to prevent infection and promote healing

decortication - removal of the outer covering of an organ or part

D and C, dilatation and curettage, dilation and curettage - a surgical procedure usually performed under local anesthesia in which the cervix is dilated and the endometrial lining of the uterus is scraped with a curet; performed to obtain tissue samples or to stop prolonged bleeding or to remove small tumors or to remove fragments of placenta after childbirth or as a method of abortion

electrosurgery - surgery performed with electrical devices (as in electrocautery)

enterostomy, enterotomy - surgical operation that creates a permanent opening through the abdominal wall into the intestine

enucleation - surgical removal of something without cutting into it; "the enucleation of the tumor"

wrong-site surgery - a surgical operation performed on the wrong part of the body

evisceration - surgical removal of an organ (or the contents of an organ) from a patient

exenteration - surgical removal of the organs within a body cavity (as those of the pelvis)

eye operation, eye surgery - any surgical procedure involving the eyes

fenestration - surgical procedure that creates a new fenestra to the cochlea in order to restore hearing lost because of osteosclerosis

gastrectomy - surgical removal of all or part of the stomach

gastroenterostomy - surgical creation of an opening between the stomach wall and the small intestines; performed when the normal opening has been eliminated

gastrostomy - surgical creation of an opening through the abdominal wall into the stomach (as for gastrogavage)

heart surgery - any surgical procedure involving the heart

haemorrhoidectomy, hemorrhoidectomy - surgical procedure for tying hemorrhoids and excising them

haemostasia, haemostasis, hemostasia, hemostasis - surgical procedure of stopping the flow of blood (as with a hemostat)

hysterotomy - surgical incision into the uterus (as in cesarean section)

implantation - a surgical procedure that places something in the human body; "the implantation of radioactive pellets in the prostate gland"

surgical incision, incision, section - the cutting of or into body tissues or organs (especially by a surgeon as part of an operation)

intestinal bypass - surgical operation that shortens the small intestine; used in treating obesity

jejunostomy - surgical creation of an opening between the jejunum and the anterior abdominal wall; will allow artificial feeding

major surgery - any surgical procedure that involves anesthesia or respiratory assistance

microsurgery - surgery using operating microscopes and miniaturized precision instruments to perform intricate procedures on very small structures