lithotripsy

1 6.6

A medical treatment using sound waves to break stones in the kidney, bladder, or tube between them

noun
/ˌlɪθəˈtrɪpsi/

Specialized

: litotricia

After my lithotripsy session, I felt relieved as the procedure successfully shattered the stones in my bladder.
shock-wave lithotripsy
wave lithotripsy

Examples

A 36-year-old Latin American man with recurrent nephrolithiasis treated with repeated lithotripsy was found to have hypercalcemia during an episode of renal colic.

Academic text (1995)
Pei Zhong has made outstanding contributions to the improvement and innovation of shock wave lithotripsy technology and for the characterization of the mechanical properties of renal calculi.

Academic text (2011)
Lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses sound waves to break up lithotripsy stones into smaller pieces.
The doctor recommended lithotripsy as the best treatment option for my painful kidney stones.

Surface Forms

lithotripsy singular

lithotripsies plural

Morphology

lithotripsy = litho + tripsy

Composed of specialised Greek combining forms (litho- 'stone' + -tripsy 'crushing') that are not standalone English words, so an average B1 learner cannot derive the meaning from familiar English bases.

Etymology

Lithotripsy comes from Greek parts litho- 'stone' and -tripsy 'to crush'. So lithotripsy literally means 'stone-breaking' and is the medical treatment that breaks kidney or bladder stones so they can pass.