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brain surgery

brain surgery

24 4.1
An operation on the brain to treat illness or injury
  • noun
  • /breɪn ˈsɜrdʒəri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cirugía cerebral
  • Now my son may have to have brain surgery because his soft spot fused too early.
  • undergo brain surgery
  • perform brain surgery
  • recovering from brain surgery

It was that in combination with seeing some awake brain surgeries that our department is really well known for.

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Examples

  • Almost immediately after his doctor discovered the tumor, he was at Swedish Cancer Institute for brain surgery.

    Blog text (11)
  • After the brain surgery, the patient was carefully monitored in the recovery room for any complications.

  • Well, the brain surgery was a complete success.

  • Now I was being told I needed brain surgery.

    Academic text (2009)
  • My doctor has asked me if I will speak to patients before brain surgery.

    Blog text (27)
  • Six hours of brain surgery would accomplish what years of therapy, rumination, and denial could not.

    Blog text (17)
  • Even the slightest miscalculation during brain surgery can have dramatic consequences for the patient.

    Blog text (32)
  • He had gained some notoriety because of his work in experimental brain surgery.

  • The neurosurgeon explained that the brain surgery would take several hours and required careful planning.

  • Patients often have questions about what to expect before and after brain surgery.

Synonyms

surgery
vsbrain surgery
  • Specialized
355 3.4

The part of medicine that treats illness or injury by doing operations

is a specific operation on the brain not medicine in general
neurosurgery
vsbrain surgery
  • Specialized
15 6.5

An operation on the brain, spinal cord, or nerves to treat problems

is the actual operation on the brain rather than the wider surgical specialty
craniotomy
vsbrain surgery
  • Specialized
7 9.5

Surgery in which doctors remove a piece of the skull to reach the brain

is the general procedure on the brain rather than a single access technique
craniectomy
vsbrain surgery
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Operation to remove part of the skull to reduce pressure on the brain

is a broader medical procedure on the brain beyond just skull removal

How Invasive

brain surgery
  • Specialized
24 4.1
neuroimaging
  • Specialized
6.2

Surface Forms

brain surgery singular

Morphology

brain + surgery

The meaning 'a medical operation on the brain' is directly and transparently derived from combining brain (the organ controlling thought) with surgery (a medical operation). This noun–noun composition is a regular, compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words would readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Brain surgery comes from a simple, literal picture: doctors open the head to reach the brain and do surgery to fix a problem. So it means 'an operation on the brain' to treat disease or injury.