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ligation

ligation

7 8.2
A surgery that ties something inside the body to stop bleeding or other flow
  • noun
  • /laɪˈɡeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ligadura
  • Endoscopic variceal ligation has challenged the position of injection sclerotherapy as the standard treatment for variceal hemorrhage.
  • variceal ligation
  • endoscopic ligation
  • tubal ligation

Examples

  • The doctor explained that a ligation is commonly used in surgery to prevent excessive bleeding.

  • In-hospital mortality among our patients who received endoscopic variceal ligation alone was 19%, which is consistent with other reported rates.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Would you explain to the jury what a "tubal ligation" is?

  • The failure rate on IMA ligation is reported to range from 10% to 26%.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Your ligation held, hemorrhaging was low... his condition is delicate, but he is alive.

  • All patients received a second variceal ligation 5 days after the first session before discharge.

    Academic text (1995)
  • We then performed left sphenopalatine artery ligation, and the bleeding ceased.

    Academic text (2005)
  • "Is there any such thing as a reversible tubal ligation?" asked Cara.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Microsurgical ligation of the sphenopalatine artery was introduced by Prades in the 1970s.

    Academic text (2005)
  • For example, performing external carotid artery ligation risks damage to the hypoglossal and vagus nerves.

    Academic text (2005)

Synonyms

embolization
vsligation
  • Specialized
3 8.2

Blocking a blood vessel to stop or reduce blood flow to an area

ties a vessel with a thread to prevent bleeding or fluid flow

Compounds

tubal ligation
  • Specialized
6 6.3

An operation that stops a woman getting pregnant by closing the tubes from her ovaries to her womb

Surface Forms

ligation singular
ligations plural

Morphology

ligation = ligate (semi-transparent) = ligate + ion

Morphologically regular (verb + -ion) and the meaning 'act of tying' is literal, but the base verb 'ligate' is specialized/technical and may be unfamiliar to average learners.

Etymology

Ligation comes from the Latin root ligare, which means 'to bind' or 'tie'. Think of ligament or ligature, both about holding or tying things together, so a surgical ligation is literally 'tying' a vessel or tube to stop blood or fluid.