laparotomy
Plurallaparotomies
- 1A surgical operation that makes a cut through the abdominal wall to reach the abdominal cavity, done either to explore or as the first step of a larger operation.
Surgeons performed an emergency laparotomy after the crash to control the internal bleeding.
The team scheduled a laparotomy to investigate the unexplained mass in the patient's belly.
Similarceliotomy, coeliotomy
Note
A surgeon's word built from two combining forms, laparo- and -tomy. The second is the ending shared by names for surgical cuts. Strictly, the word names the opening itself rather than whatever is done once inside, which is why it can stand alone as exploratory surgery or begin a longer operation. Celiotomy, also spelled coeliotomy, names the same incision. Dr Philippa Kaye explains it to patients as "cutting open your whole abdomen."
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Origin
Formed from the combining forms "laparo-," meaning the flank or abdomen, and "-tomy," meaning a cutting or incision.