thoracotomy
13
9.9
- noun
- /θɔːrəˈkɒtəmi/
- Specialized
- The patient was explored by a left anterolateral thoracotomy under general anaesthesia with a double-lumen endotracheal tube.
- post-thoracotomy
- posterolateral thoracotomy
- undergo a thoracotomy
Examples
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Between March 2002 and March 2004, fifty consecutive patients scheduled for elective posterolateral thoracotomy were entered in this prospective study.
Academic text (2007) -
However, better preservation of ventilatory function makes it useful in reducing post-thoracotomy pulmonary complications.
Academic text (2007) -
I was hospitalized for 25 days and had an open thoracotomy.
Blog text (12) -
Now, she was scheduled for pleurectomy by classical thoracotomy.
Academic text (2007) -
The patient underwent a thoracotomy, and the foreign body was identified as a sharp-edged chicken bone.
Academic text (2006) -
Other authors have reported that early thoracotomy to drain septic mediastinal fluid reduces mortality.
Academic text (2004) -
In these cases, sternotomy and lateral thoracotomy are the only approaches that will permit sufficient exposure to eradicate the disease.
Academic text (2006) -
Surgery was performed via a standard posterolateral thoracotomy; all incisions were made in the posterior fifth or sixth intercostal spaces.
Academic text (2007) -
Currently, thoracic epidural analgesia is considered to be the method of choice in the treatment of post-thoracotomy pain, and no thoracotomy study has clearly shown any technique to be preferable to epidural analgesia.
Academic text (2007) -
The surgeon decided to perform a thoracotomy to access the patient's lungs during the procedure.
How Invasive
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Specialized
13
9.9
- Specialized
2
9.9
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
thoracotomy = (opaque) = thorac + otomy
The term is a specialized medical term derived from Greek roots and is not transparently analyzable for most English learners; there is no recognizable English base word.
Etymology
The word thoracotomy comes from the parts thorax 'chest' and -tomy 'cut'. So a thoracotomy is a surgical cut into the chest to reach the heart or lungs, and you can see the same 'cut' part in words like lobotomy and tracheotomy.