- Surgery
- : The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office. To define "surgery" merely as "an operation" (as one dictionary does) is rather radical surgery. An earlier entry to "surgery" in this dictionary was similarly mechanistic: "Surgery can involve cutting, abrading, suturing, laser or otherwise physically changing body tissues and organs." The word "surgery" took a path so tortuous as to conceal its origins. It began with the Greek "cheirourgia" which combined "cheir" (the hand) and "ergon" (work) and meant "handwork, work done with the hands." The Greek "cheirourgia" was taken over by the Romans as "chirurgia" and and was further transformed in France about in 1171 to "cirurgie." (In French, surgery is now "chirurgerie.") By 1387 Chaucer could write in The Canterbury Tales: With us ther was a doctour of phisik; In al this world ne was the noon hym lik, To speke of phisik and of surgerye.
* * *1. The branch of medicine concerned with the treatment of disease, injury, and deformity by physical operation or manipulation. 2. The performance or procedures of an operation. [L. chirurgia; G. cheir, hand, + ergon, work]- ambulatory s. operative procedures performed on patients who are admitted to and discharged from a hospital on the same day.- aseptic s. the performance of an operation with sterilized hands, instruments, etc., and utilizing precautions against the introduction of infectious microorganisms from without.- endolymphatic sac s. a generic term for several operations performed on the endolymphatic sac for the treatment of Ménière disease.- functional endoscopic sinus s. (FESS) a group of operations performed on the paranasal sinuses, with illumination and magnification through an endoscope.- keratorefractive s. SYN: refractive keratoplasty.- laparoscopic s. operative procedure performed using minimally invasive surgical technique for exposure that avoids traditional incision; visualization is achieved using a fiber optic instrument, attached to a video camera.- laparoscopically assisted s. operative procedure performed using combined laparoscopic and open techniques.- left ventricular volume reduction s. operation in which the volume of a dilated, nonaneurysmal left ventricle is reduced by myocardial resection to improve ventricular geometry and mechanical function and thereby treat end-stage congestive heart failure. SYN: Battista operation, partial left ventriculectomy, reduction left ventriculoplasty.- lung volume reduction s. procedure whereby nonfunctional lung tissue in emphysema patients is removed, allowing more room in the thoracic cavity for good relatively healthy tissue and thus theoretically improving lung function. SEE ALSO: emphysema.- microscopically controlled s. SYN: Mohs chemosurgery.- minimally invasive s. operative procedure performed in a manner derived to result in the smallest possible incision or no incision at all; includes laparoscopic, laparoscopically assisted, thoracoscopic, and endoscopic surgical procedures.- open heart s. operative procedure(s) performed on or within the exposed heart, usually with cardiopulmonary bypass.- oral s. the branch of dentistry concerned with the diagnosis and surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries, and deformities of the oral and maxillofacial region.- orthognathic s. SYN: surgical orthodontics.- orthopedic s. the branch of s. that embraces the treatment of acute and chronic disorders of the musculoskeletal system, including injuries, diseases, dysfunction, and deformities (orig. deformities in children) in the extremities and spine. SEE ALSO: orthopaedics.- plastic s. the surgical specialty or procedure concerned with the restoration, construction, reconstruction, or improvement in the shape and appearance of body structures that are missing, defective, damaged, or misshapen.- reconstructive s. plastic s..- skull base s. generic term to denote a specialty of s. and a group of operations, techniques, and approaches to lesions at or involving the base of the skull or its contents.- stereotactic s. SYN: stereotaxy.- stereotaxic s. SYN: stereotaxy.- thoracoscopic s. operation on the chest using a thoracoscope; formerly, a direct-view instrument used mainly for simple procedures such as collapse therapy and pleural biopsy; currently, employs video-endoscopic minimally invasive techniques and instruments and is applied to more complex procedures. Cf.:video-assisted thoracic s..- transsexual s. procedures designed to alter a patient's external sexual characteristics so that they resemble those of the other sex.- video-assisted thoracic s. (VATS) thoracic s. performed using endoscopic cameras, optical systems, and display screens, as well as specially designed surgical instruments and staplers; the ability to make small incisions without spreading of the ribs is an advantage over standard thoracotomy; has been applied to most thoracic procedures.
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1) a branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions requiring or amenable to operative or manual procedures2 a) Brit a physician's or dentist's officeb) a room or area where surgery is performed3 a) the work done by a surgeonb) OPERATION* * *
n.the branch of medicine that treats injuries, deformities, or disease by operation or manipulation. See also cryosurgery, microsurgery.• surgical adj.* * *
sur·gery (surґjər-e) [L. chirurgia, from Gr. cheir hand + ergon work] 1. the branch of medicine that treats diseases, injuries, and deformities by manual or operative methods. 2. the work performed by a surgeon; see also method, operation, procedure, and technique. 3. the place in a hospital or doctor's or dentist's office where surgery is performed. 4. in Great Britain, a room or office where a doctor sees and treats patients.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
