Skip to main content
embolectomy

embolectomy

1 9.9
An operation that removes a blood clot from an artery to let blood flow again
  • noun
  • /ˌɛmbəˈlɛktəmi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : embolectomía

Examples

  • Most of these patients, predominantly females, had a successful outcome after embolectomy.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Two patients underwent angiography after failed embolectomy.

    Academic text (2007)
  • First, an elderly lady expired immediately after B/L embolectomy due to reperfusion syndrome.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The patient underwent surgical embolectomy with exploration of the right chambers and pulmonary arteries under full cardiopulmonary bypass.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The surgeon performed an embolectomy to remove the blood clot from the patient's artery.

  • After the embolectomy, the patient's blood flow was restored successfully.

  • During the operation, the team encountered complications while performing the embolectomy.

Synonyms

thrombectomy
vsembolectomy
  • Specialized
1 8.6

An operation to remove a blood clot from a blood vessel

removes a vessel blockage often from an artery to restore blood flow

Surface Forms

embolectomy singular
embolectomies plural

Morphology

embolectomy = embolus (opaque) = embol + ectomy

The term is a regular medical formation meaning removal of an embolus, but the specialized base word and suffix are unlikely to be transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Embolectomy comes from embolus ('plug' or 'block') and -ectomy ('removal'), and you can see the same -ectomy in appendectomy. So an embolectomy is the surgical removal of a 'plug' from a blood vessel to let blood flow again.